Millennials and Game Show Training

Millennials (those born after 1980, or so--depending on which research group you ask) are entering the workforce in droves. This is only going to increase over the next few years as "Boomers" retire and job positions open up.

This means that the Millennials are coming--and trainers are having to find new ways to engage them.

Recent research has discovered something particularly unique to Millennials:

The love to collaborate.

Positive or negative, collaboration is the lifeblood of the Millennial generation. They grew up working in teams and getting constant feedback from teachers, parents and peers.

This is why, when we've spoken to trainers, game shows are absolutely critical in the training classroom. Why game shows, though? Why not just some other interactive activity?

Game shows:

• Are cross-generational. A Millennial can play a Categories game along with a Boomer or a Gen-X-er. It's a familiar format for all generations currently in the workplace.
• Capitalize on competition. They're a friendly, non-threatening way to introduce competition into a training classroom; raising the stakes and increasing accountability.
• Encourage team work and collaboration. Peers play together on teams, so everyone is involved and interacting with each other.
• Are incredibly engaging. The Millennial generation is used to interactive activities and multimedia. The training-by-powerpoint-only method is particularly ineffective in the group that wants to be entertained and engaged while they learn.
• Reinforce content. "I was learning, but I didn't know I was learning," was a comment from a high-school student we interviewed a few years ago. Game shows reinforce training content and increase retention of material by over 62%.

It's true that Millennials aren't the only generation that wants to be engaged, but with the advent of Millennials, more trainers are thinking about reinventing their training--and game shows (like Gameshow Pro) are a great start.