Background

In this franchise training environment, new owners and their inside sales representatives attend a two-week "boot camp."  Although they will be working together in the business, they are trained separately on two parallel training tracks.  Some of the classes overlap because BOTH positions require some of the same skills; however, most classes do not. 

 

This franchise makes healthy smoothies.

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Class Objectives

• To have the new owner form a bond with the staff

• To  have the staff form a bond with the business owner

• To familiarize each participant with the selections on the menu board

• To familiarize each participant with the selection categories on the menu board

• To demonstrate (from completed boot camp classes) mastery of each selection's ingredients

• To build the confidence to make recommendations to our customers that will make them raving fans

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Class Challenges

• Most new owners have lengthy corporate careers and are used to dealing with professional employees with career goals.  Most of the employees that these owners will now be managing are less confident, less experienced, and make hourly wages. It is not unusual for the employees to feel a disconnect or to feel intimidated by the new business owner.

• Most new owners have a difficult time being vulnerable around their newly hired staff. 

• Many new owners are uncertain about their initial hiring choices ("buyer's remorse").  

• Although all class participants have seen the menu board in the main lecture room EVERY day, few have examined it.

 

Instructor-Led Solution Using Gamification

 

To meet the objectives and address the challenges of this class, I designed a 45-minute course using a Gamification model. The solution was called, "The Golden Goblet Challenge." The so-called Golden Goblet was a tall gold coffee mug with the logo of the franchise on it. To make it special, we would only award the winning team participants with the mug (creating a sense of scarcity even though each winner would receive a duplicate mug). Additionally, every time anyone said "Golden Goblet" the corporate trainers and any corporate employees in the room would raise the goblet if it was being held or bow to whoever was holding it. All corporate employees would then repeat the phrase in a whisper, "The Golden Goblet." All of this was to incentivize the participants to reach for this sublime achievement.

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For the challenge, both participant tracks were combined. From that pool, the two instructors divided the group into two teams. For this exercise to accomplish the bonding aspect of the objectives, franchisees and their employees were always on the same team. Jane McGonigal, famous video game designer and expert on the value of games, has asserted "...we like people better if we’ve played a game with them; we bond and build trust." Additionally by placing owners and their new staff together they would be predisposed to collaborate together towards a goal.

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To play the game, each team would line up facing the menu display board, one team on the left and one team on the right. The lines were pushed back approximately 15 feet to allow everyone to see the action. For the first round, the lead instructor would call the first person in each line to move forward to his or her side of the menu. Both players had to face AWAY from the menu towards their team. The players were instructed by the Lead instructor:

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"I will read out a statement or question. If you are a player and it is your turn, you may turn around after the challenge has been read. The first player to touch the correct answer will score one point. If you touch a wrong item first, the other team will score a point if they have their finger on the correct answer. If no one gets a correct answer, no points will be awarded and both players will go to the back of their team line. Team mates can help by suggesting higher or lower (or left or right) but CANNOT SAY THE ANSWER. Saying an answer forfeits your team's turn. My teaching partner will decide any ties and is the final judge on answers since there is frequently more than one correct answer." 

 

Scoring and tracking points is a characteristic of Gamification and allows team participants to visualize their success. Just as important, team members were allowed to help and support each other in the process.

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Observations from Class Beta Test

 

During the "Golden Goblet Challenge" some remarkable things began to occur:

1. As the questions progressed, the collaboration of team mates increased. This is also when the class transitions to being "student-centered."

2. Across the board, the hired employees out-performed their new bosses. That "buyer's remorse" and uncertainty evaporated.

3. As the game progressed, all team participants lost sight of rank and viewed each other as a peer. Owners were asking for help when they did not know an answer.

4. Learners began to answer questions that had not been covered in class. They were connecting the facts to the customer's needs using problem-solving skills. For example, "A customer does not have time for lunch and needs his smoothie to fill him up. What choices could you offer?" 

5. Winners of the game posted pictures of their team holding the coffee mugs. They were proud.

6. Losing team members were given other corporate logo swag. They did not feel upset, although many asked for a re-match.

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This class begins  by using the Behaviorist Learning theory. The questions being asked have a definite right or wrong response. In the first 20 minutes of the challenge, there is no need for a second instructor to judge any of the answers. The questions following this format include locating a named smoothie, identifying a smoothie that contains a certain ingredient, and locating smoothie categories. For each of these queries, the students have been conditioned to respond a certain way. 

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However, the class transitions as the teams move through the easy questions and "level up." That's when the questions become customer scenarios. Moreover, they become exercises in problem-solving where the competitor processes information, organizes that information, and synthesizes a correct response. Some of the questions here include "Which ones do you recommend for after a workout?" and "Will a small size fill me up?" In sum, the class transitions because of its use of Cognitivism for the last half.

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