Introduction
As a curious professional, I have always sought innovative ways to make my teams’ daily work more interactive, accessible, and engaging. In 2023, I had the opportunity to attend the “Agile Serious Game” event organized by Nord Agile. I discovered “serious games” and their potential to improve learning, understanding, and application of the Agile mindset in a real-world context. In this article, I would like to share my experience and explain how serious games can bring significant value in our professional contexts. I will present two activities in which I participated, which will hopefully help you visualize the experience.
Agile Serious Game ???
You are familiar with the meaning of “Agile,” and “Serious Games” simply refers to combining games with learning.
Serious games offer a real advantage for learning in a professional and Agile context. They allow for the playful transmission of Agile principles and solving complex problems with a collaborative approach. Participants learn through experimentation and simulation of real situations, without the risks associated with real projects. Serious games also foster creativity and innovation by encouraging participants to think unconventionally and find original solutions. They also develop problem-solving, collaboration, and decision-making skills within a team. Finally, serious games provide immediate feedback, allowing participants to adjust their approach in real-time and quickly understand the consequences of their actions.
Workshop 1: Cube Story
The game “Cube Story” is a modified board game that allows for storytelling based on dice rolls.
Context: We were a group of 10 people who knew nothing about each other, and the task was to present ourselves “differently” than usual.
Objective: To allow each member to share information about themselves in a playful and memorable way, thereby fostering connection and collaboration within the team.
In the business world, I encountered problems without direct solutions, which led me to research. That’s where I discovered the Agile mindset and embarked on the path, with the aim of building a safer and fairer work environment. I firmly believed that solutions come from empowered and happy employees who find meaning in their work!
Workshop 2: Lego Carpaccio
Context: Two groups had to estimate the time required to iteratively build a Lego model.
Workshop objective: To better understand and gain perspective on estimations.
Lego Carpaccio is a one-hour workshop involving two groups: one with two participants (I was part of this group) and another with three participants. For the workshop, we received Lego boxes with their plans, and the facilitator had a whiteboard to note our estimation commitments.
The game proceeded as follows: each team had to commit to their capacity to build the requested model. We had to indicate at which stage we believed we would be at the end of the first construction period, which lasted 3 or 5 minutes, depending on the case. At the end of each period, we compared our commitments with the actual results, and the facilitator asked us to provide a new commitment for the next period. This allowed us to reflect on the previous iteration, consider the experience gained during the exercise, and adjust our estimations as the game progressed.
At the end of the workshop, the teams gathered to discuss how they had taken this experience into account to achieve commitments that were increasingly close to reality. We also reflected on the equivalence of different stages of the Lego plan in terms of production effort, as well as the different perspectives depending on roles within a company.
The main objective of Lego Carpaccio was to understand the difficulty of commitment when the frame of reference is not fully understood, the differences in vision and affinity among teams, and the importance of empiricism in an Agile approach: our knowledge comes from experience. By participating in this game, we were able to concretely experience the challenges related to estimations and learn to adjust our commitments based on acquired experience.
One might think, “It’s just two Lego sets, it’s the same thing,” but each project is different! One might also think that a project is simpler with three people…
We won this game because my colleague and I were experienced Lego practitioners, and in this context, we practiced the activity with our favorite partner. We had our routines linked to our professional daily work, and I must admit that communication and organization were much simpler with just two people. He knew my strengths and weaknesses, and I was impressed by his sudden decision-making based on this knowledge, which had a significant impact on our success.
Game link: Lego Carpaccio
Advantages
Engagement
Agile Serious games offer an immersive experience that encourages active participation. This promotes practical learning and encourages interactions among team members. It is generally a real role-playing game that quickly takes shape!
Creativity and Innovation
Agile Serious games provide a conducive space for exploring new ideas and stimulating creativity. Participants are encouraged to think unconventionally, find original solutions, and experiment with new individual and collective approaches.
Experiential Learning
Participants learn through experience. Serious games simulate real situations, allowing teams to experiment in a practical way without the risks associated with real projects. This enables learning through both success and error.
Reflection and Decision-Making
Serious games often require strategic choices and quick decision-making. This allows participants to develop problem-solving, collaboration, and decision-making skills within a team.
Continuous Improvement and Feedback
Serious games generally provide immediate feedback, allowing participants to adjust their approach in real-time and quickly understand the consequences of their actions. This also facilitates retrospective discussions and immediate learning from each other’s experiences after the activity!
ASerious Games for Any Objective
Whether it’s an energizer to invigorate your events and meetings, facilitating a product vision, retrospectives, icebreakers, or team-building activities to improve team or organizational relationships, you will surely find suitable Agile games for your context and objective!
Want to Discover More?
I recommend several quality resources to delve deeper for Agile Games:
Conclusion
I am delighted to have participated in this event! Of course, I would have liked to participate in more than just two games, but the numerous online resources allow us to continue learning, and there will be more events on the theme of Agile Serious Games! I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Nicolas Tondeur and Camille Marquette for introducing me to this additional skill for my everyday coaching activities!