This piece is a continuation of a previous collaboration article by our Danish and Benelux partners. You can read the original publication here.
From simulators to eLearning: serious games have been on the rise in recent years. Applying game mechanics and reward systems to work processes often has a positive impact on creativity, productivity and collaboration. However, there is one important success factor when using serious games for teamwork: it tends to work best when people are physically in the same room together. While eLearning can be a great tool for individual growth, bringing people together creates a sense of team spirit or healthy competition. Can real-life business game workshops help keep teams connected when remote work is becoming the new standard across the world?
For teams, serious games are a great way to discuss complex topics and visualise opportunities and challenges. Because the format of a serious game is usually more engaging than a traditional meeting or workshop, it helps team members come together in a relaxed and informal setting. Game elements are often integrated in onboarding and training, for example through the use of simulation games or roleplaying. One form of serious gaming is the LEGO® Serious Play (LSP) Method. While many people may be familiar with the brightly coloured bricks from childhood, LSP has transformed these nostalgic toys into a proven strategic development tool.
Britta Hedegaard is an experienced LSP facilitator and has seen first-hand how the method helps teams gain a deeper understanding of their business and their colleagues. “LSP offers a creative approach to innovation and enhanced business performance,” Hedegaard explains. She continues: “As a facilitator, you ensure an environment where common values and new ideas can be discussed safely. Participants gain insight into the company’s challenges and objectives, regardless of educational background or position.” But LSP goes beyond creating an clear comprehension of the situation ‘as-is’. “You see that the workshop nearly always leads to a shared understanding—and buy-in—of the company vision and future ambitions. More than that, LSP helps participants come up with concrete ideas and input for action plans so they can actually start working towards that vision together.”
LSP within a changing business context
In 2020, many of us suddenly found ourselves forced to work from home for an indefinite period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, a worldwide shift in attitudes towards remote work has taken place. While getting used to this ‘new normal’ certainly took time, one thing is for sure: Working out-of-office is here to stay. Different studies report slightly different numbers, but most reach the same conclusion. Only a small minority of people who are able to do their work remotely see themselves returning to the office fulltime. Hybrid work—where employees alternate between remote work and office work—is rapidly gaining popularity.
While many people enjoy the benefits that hybrid work offers, it certainly has its challenges. Effective communication is much harder to achieve on the digital work floor. Informal exchanges are limited and there aren’t as many opportunities to get involved and offer valuable insights or suggestions. Is this where a method such as LSP can make a difference? Hedegaard remembers one workshop she guided after the merge of three departments into one. Seventeen participants from all over the world met at the company’s headquarters for a two-day session. “This was the first time these people were brought together, so we incorporated a lot of social play into the programme,” Hedegaard recounts. “To give insight into each other’s personal lives, personalities, competences—and to have fun together. A lot of laughs were shared during that workshop!”
New ways of collaboration
Hybrid work changes how we interact with each other on the physical work floor. The ‘office of the future’ is not simply a conglomeration of individual work spaces, but a place meant for meeting and exchanging ideas with others. Simply put, the office will become a place where people specifically get together with the intent of collaborating. Using proven methods such as LSP can transform meetings into innovative collaboration sessions.
“You’re able to bring people from all layers in the organisation or department together,” Hedegaard explains. “Through LSP, they’re able to speak a common language. You don’t need to be a subject matter expert to participate; everybody’s input becomes equal.” Bringing in people with a different background and mindset breaks traditional patterns of thinking and leads to fresh, new ideas. Ideas with impact. “During one of the LSP workshops we facilitated, the participants identified one idea in particular that could lead to a cost saving of over one million Euros, according to the director himself.”
The way forward
“Of course, guiding these companies into putting ideas into fruition is part of the follow-up you go through as an LSP facilitator as well,” Hedegaard points out. “But because part of the process is to come up with an action plan, most participants leave the session feeling like they have a clear understanding of what comes next.” As with most strategic and management workshops, what the people do with the knowledge after the session is what matters. However, teams are in a much better position to further explore relevant ideas together. “The benefit of LSP is that it’s tangible to a certain extent; the finished product is a physical model you can put in the office. Something that reminds people of the process they went through as a team and the vision they’re working towards.”
In uncertain times and changing work environments, having a tangible asset to rely on gives people a sense of security. In the case of LSP, it effectively provides the company with building blocks to tackle unexpected challenges. As Hedegaard puts it, LSP “puts the focus on unleashing play in order to unlock the human potential within organisations”. Serious play builds strong teams and shared visions. It seems more than fitting, then, that the name LEGO is a reference to both the Danish phrase leg godt (“play well”) and the Latin word lego (“I assemble”).