5 REASONS TOP COMPANIES ARE USING Trivia Games TO Foster Diversity at Work
$8 billion is spent annually by U.S. organizations to understand diversity, equity and inclusion.
Industry leaders who promote belonging and inclusion are ditching traditional sensitivity and diversity training and opting for creative and highly interactive workplace activities that build a culture of inclusivity.
The world’s top organizations are leveraging the power and utility of “The Trivia Game Show” to create community and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion.
We recently created a trivia game show for a large Bay Area-based software company and witnessed first hand the power of team-bonding through game play. We also observed that, the more diverse a particular team was, the more successful they were.
Here are 5 reasons why the most innovative companies are igniting a Trivia Game craze:
Teams experience firsthand the value of having a wide scope of voices when answering questions related to cultures around the world. Players’ personal knowledge of their heritage and life experiences means that some are more likely to know an answer than others. Both situations help foster mutual respect among coworkers, passively dispelling prejudices in a low-stakes environment.
In our “Holidays Around the World” segment we combined a wide variety of questions that spanned cultures from all over the globe. The teams with the most diversity scored the highest in these rounds.
Everyone is included. When all participants have a seat at the table and can contribute in their own way, each individual is recognized for their own special contribution. Few contexts create such a level playing field.
We designed a Trivia Show with components that strategically included everyone in the room. We did this by infusing comedy magic in between rounds and group call-and-response segments to rally all players. Perhaps the most exciting group moments came where there was a tie between teams and we had to have a tiebreaker. This involved a representative from each team coming to the front of the room and playing catch with the “Beach Ball of Destiny”. The rules were simple. One is disqualified if they threw badly, or caught badly. Players had to step backwards after each successful throw, adding to the suspense and fever-pitch excitement. When the last player was out, the crowd roared with excitement. This was just one way that we brought the entire group together while still maintaining individual teams.
The playful nature of a gamified activity can lighten otherwise heavy topics. Research conducted by SHRM shows that 95% of U.S. employees have been involved in polarizing workplace discussions. Playing a rousing team building trivia game can create awareness around things like unconscious bias. For example, a trivia question can make players aware that taller men on average earn about $800 a year or more, per inch of height, from 5‘7“ to 6‘3”.
As facilitators we looked for ways to deepen the ROI by bringing levity and humor to the game with questions that turned differences into strengths and adding an educational component, by developing trivia topics that related to the organization’s desired key points of retention and company values.
Individuals in teams bond in a deeper way by joining forces under one common goal, resulting in better communication and heightened team engagement. This helps to bridge the gap between the dimensions of difference which can include: ableness, culture and ethnicity, gender, generational difference, race, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic class, veteran status, & education. With virtual team trivia games, players are making new friends around the world.
A well facilitated trivia game turns every member of the team into a leader. Leaders are born under pressure and recognized for their contribution. Players are increasing their problem solving and strategizing skills as well. In the game we facilitated, Town Hall-like moments were created when participants warmly debate interpretations of some of the questions.
Bonus tip: The more highly customized your trivia questions are, the greater the ROI will be, because you can share information and get real-time, spontaneous feedback from participants.
When creating your own trivia questions for your team, here are 5 important questions to ask about your organization:
What 3 words most clearly describe our culture?
What are the most important ways to be seen in our culture?
What does the typical leader look and act like?
What are the taboos, and no –no’s?
What informal ways do we build relationships here?
How would I describe a good fit for this company?
Knowledge is fun. Participants come away from trivia games feeling energized, and enriched by a deeper knowledge and appreciation for the human treasures they work with. In this way, everyone wins!