Ways Companies Are Using Team-Based Business Games To Increase Productivity

Washington Crossing, PA – With employee productivity at its highest level since 2002, more companies are using team-based business games to sustain employees’ high output and increase their retention of knowledge, according to The Learning Key, developer of team-based business games and simulations.

Employee productivity rose at an annual rate of 6.9% during the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

One of the biggest reasons for the rise in productivity is that, due to workforce cutbacks and downsizings, companies have fewer employees doing more work. “Many employees have been shifted into new job roles because of layoffs, and employers are using team-based business games to train workers in their new responsibilities and to increase their retention of new knowledge,” said Elizabeth Treher, Ph.D., founder, President and CEO of The Learning Key Inc. (http://www.thelearningkey.com)

Team-based business games result in better knowledge retention, provide focused, memorable learning, and a more enjoyable learning atmosphere than traditional methods . “Games reduce the need for experts and build spirit and cooperation when played in teams, whether face-to-face or via e-learning,” said Treher.

Companies are using team-based games in the following ways to improve productivity, according to The Learning Key:

- Learn new job roles: “Team-based business games help employees who have taken on new duties to better understand their responsibilities, organizational expectations, and where they fit into the big picture,” said Treher.

- Grow sales and provide better customer service: “Games increase employees’ knowledge of the overall business and industries in which companies operate. Employees are better prepared to address questions that go beyond product knowledge and enhance their value to customers,” said Treher.

- Tear down interdepartmental communication barriers: “Companies are using learning games to build common understanding of processes shared by more than one function or department. This reduces unproductive handoffs and miscommunication, and enables employees to better understand the needs and expectations of their colleagues,” said Treher.

- Increase success of new products: “Team-based business games expand dialogue between the marketing and development functions. This aids in eliminating costly mistakes by shaping product development early on, ensuring that products meet the needs of the marketplace,” said Treher.

- Improve employees’ long-term retention of important information. Learners retain 75% of the knowledge they acquire when playing games, according to research by the National Training Laboratories. “The repetition of knowledge and the element of competition that games provide dramatically increase long-term learning retention,” said Treher.

- Develop one corporate culture from newly merged organizations: “Learning games help to build one corporate culture much more rapidly and ensure that the new company moves forward as a single, focused organization. Team-based business games educate employees from both organizations about how the new company will work, its products, services, and processes, and build relationships and understanding, while minimizing turf battles and other disruptions that can delay integration,” said Treher.

- Instruct employees about highly technical information: “Team-based business games teach complex product, regulatory, and compliance-related information in ways that support learning retention,” said Treher.

The Learning Key Inc. offers team-based business games and customized learning solutions for the educational, banking, information services, pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and other industries. For more information, visit www.thelearningkey.com or call (800) 465-7005.

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