What If We Brought More Play Into Training?
How About Bringing a Little More Life to Training?
PART 3 — THE TOOLKIT
What Else Can We Use in Training?
Bingo and Taboo are two simple ways to make training more engaging.
But they are not the only options.
Sometimes, asking participants to make a prediction is enough. In other cases, we can ask them to put steps in the right order or briefly switch roles with someone else.
What matters is not the name of the game, but what it adds to the learning experience.
1. Make a Prediction
Instead of explaining a concept straight away, start by giving participants a problem to think about.
Imagine a process where a significant amount of time is being lost.
Ask the group:
“What would you do in this situation?”
Give everyone a moment to think and share their ideas.
Then introduce the relevant concept or method.
After that, return to the original problem and ask:
“Would your suggestion work in this situation? Why?”
Participants get the chance to put forward their own ideas before receiving the information. Afterwards, they can compare their initial answers with what they have learned.
This approach works particularly well when introducing a new topic or before teaching a problem-solving method.
2. Put It in Order
Give participants a set of steps or concepts related to the training topic, but mix up the order.
The task is simple:
“In what order do you think these should go?”
For example, in a problem-solving session, we could mix up the following steps:
- Define the problem
- Understand the current situation
- Investigate the root cause
- Develop a solution
- Check the results
Participants work together to put the steps in the right order.
The goal is not simply to find the correct answer. It is also to get participants to explain why they chose that sequence.
The trainer can then share their approach, and the group can discuss the different answers.
3. Match the Cards
This time, we use two sets of cards.
One set contains concepts. The other contains definitions, examples or problems related to those concepts.
The task is to find the correct matches.
For example, in a sales training session:
Need → A problem the customer wants to solve
Objection → A concern that makes the buying decision more difficult
Value → The benefit a solution provides from the customer’s perspective
This activity is particularly useful for reviewing concepts and helping participants see the relationships between them.
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4. Spot the Mistake
Show participants examples of correct and incorrect practices, processes or behaviours.
Then ask:
“What do you think is wrong here?”
In a 5S training session, for example, we could show a photograph of a work area and ask participants to identify the problems.
In a communication training session, we could present a short dialogue and ask them to spot the communication mistakes.
Instead of starting by listening to an explanation, participants observe, notice what is wrong and try to explain why.
5. Role Play
Sometimes, one of the best ways to understand a situation is to experience it from the other side.
In a leadership training session, we could ask a manager to take on the role of an employee.
“What would you be thinking if you were the employee in this situation?”
In sales training, the sales representative could take the customer’s role while the customer takes the role of the sales representative.
The main purpose is to experience what the other person might be thinking and what they need.
Afterwards, participants switch roles again. The group discusses what was missed and revisits the same situation from the other person’s perspective.
This gives participants an opportunity to experience both their own role and the perspective of the other party.
Role play can be particularly useful in leadership, sales, customer relations and communication training.
Digital Tools
We do not have to rely on paper, cards and pens for every activity.
Digital tools can make things easier, especially when working with larger groups.
For example, we can use Kahoot to create a short quiz. Participants can work in teams, answer questions together and follow the results on screen.
We can even add a small reward:
- A book
- A chocolate bar
- Or a small privilege chosen by the winning team
With Mentimeter, we can ask a quick question during the session and see everyone’s responses at once.
For example:
“Why do you think this problem occurs?”
When the answers appear on screen, the trainer can use them as a starting point for introducing the next topic.
Tools such as Socrative can also be used for short tests and knowledge reviews.
Technology is not the goal in itself.
We use it to turn a prediction activity on paper into a digital poll, or a card-based review into an online quiz.
In other words, the tool changes, but the learning need we are trying to address remains the same.
As we have seen, the activities we use in training can be quite simple.
But one important question remains:
Which tool should we use, and when?
Playing Bingo in every session, turning every topic into a Taboo game or adding a quiz to every training programme will not necessarily produce good results.
In the next part of this series, we will look more closely at the design process:
How do we choose the right game mechanic for a learning objective?
In this mini-series, we explored how gamification can be used in corporate training. The goal is not to turn the entire training session into a game, but to design learning moments that encourage participants to think, make decisions, try things out, and use what they have learned.
What If We Brought More Play Into Training?
✅ Part 1 | From Listening to Learning
⬜ Part 2 | Bringing Training to Life with a Deck of Cards: Bingo & Taboo
⬜ Part 3 | What Else Can We Use in Training?
⬜ Part 4 | How Can We Gamify Our Own Training?
Links to new parts will be added to this page as they are published.
