4 Things Corporate Training Can Steal from Fantasy Football
Fantasy football is an $11 billion business with 29.2 million people playing in the US alone in 2022.
So what’s the appeal?
It's our job to look at what fantasy football is doing well and determine what we can steal to make our training more effective. In today’s episode, I’m exploring the four things L&D can steal from fantasy football to improve our training.
Listen to the episode or scroll down to read the blog post ↓
Key Points:
00:58 The appeal of fantasy football
04:09 4 Things L&D can steal from fantasy football to improve our training
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4 Things Corporate Training Can Steal from Fantasy Football
Corporate training rarely has the appeal that things like Duolingo or fantasy football have, but training has a lot in common with these fan favorites.
It's our job to look at what they are doing well and determine what we can steal to make our training more effective.
Today, I specifically want to look at fantasy football.
At this point, we're well on our way into fantasy football season. Everyone has been getting ready for the season. They’ve joined their leagues, they're drafting their players, and they're getting their lineups ready.
In 2022, 29.2 million people played fantasy football in the US alone. It's an $11 billion business.
So, what's the appeal?
What can L&D steal from fantasy football to improve our training?
That's what I want to explore today.
In this blog post, we’re covering the following:
1) The Appeal of Fantasy Football
So why do people play fantasy football? What is the appeal? Why do people want to do it? Why do they enjoy it?
I've come up with a few reasons, and I'm sure these aren't the only ones, but these are the ones that stood out to me first.
1. People play fantasy football because they want to feel connected to the game.
A lot of people love football. It takes up their entire weekend. How much football can you consume?
Fantasy football is a way that they can take their love for football and apply it.
They may never play football again in their lives, but they can feel connected to it. They can feel like they're part of it by playing fantasy football. They can feel connected to this game that they love.
2. People play fantasy football because they get to put their knowledge to the test.
A lot of people know a lot about football, regardless of whether they've ever played. Playing fantasy football is their chance to show what they know, to see how good they are, and to really test that knowledge in real time.
3. People play fantasy football because they want to win. They want to have fun.
People want to have a little friendly competition. They want to join their league. They want to be able to have back-and-forth camaraderie. It's fun, and they want to win.
So what can we, in L&D, start to learn from fantasy football? That’s what we’re exploring next.
2) 4 Things L&D Can Steal from Fantasy Football to Improve Training
1. Create Community and Facilitate Relationship Building
People are playing fantasy football because they want to feel connected to the game and have that camaraderie that comes with their fantasy football league.
We can do this in our training too - we can create community.
We can facilitate relationship building through our learning experiences, and we're giving them someone to learn alongside and to learn from.
Now, this is my approach so I'm a little bit biased in that we're always looking for ways we can build relationships with the learning.
Those relationships are what make a difference long term.
Yes, we want them to build a skill. That's what our objectives are going to focus on. We want those behaviors, we want to see that change, but also we want to build those relationships.
When they get back on the job, it's that relationship that's going to help them:
Apply what they've learned.
Work through silos that exist in the organization.
And, it’s that relationship that's going to help them as they progress in their career.
And so we want to build little mini-communities every time we have any sort of training experience, whether that's in person, a live virtual session, or an online learning community. There are all these opportunities to build those relationships.
We can help people feel connected at work.
2. Create Opportunities for Continuous Engagement and Learning
When people who are playing fantasy football are putting their knowledge to the test, this is not a set-it-and-forget-it situation. They're constantly going back into their team, and they're making decisions on a regular basis to help improve their chances of winning.
If we think about that from a learning perspective, this is continuous engagement - we can do that with our learners.
It's not a set-it-and-forget-it situation. It's not an attend one training and go back to the job situation.
We can create this continuous engagement with things like blended learning so that they aren't just attending one training and going back to their desk. We're giving them the opportunity to engage continuously in their learning process because we're supporting them with more than just that one-time training.
I have a recent episode on blended learning if you want to learn more about that:
3. Provide On The Job Resources and Support
The third thing I think we can learn from fantasy football is similar to my point above - we can provide on the job resources.
One of the ways that people who are playing fantasy football make decisions and have that continuous engagement is through rankings projections and watching game coverage.
They have these resources that help them make better decisions as they continue to engage with the game.
If we think about that from a training perspective, we can provide on the job resources to help continuously engage our learners and help them create that behavior change, so that we see the change and the impact that we're hoping to see.
4. Make Training Fun
Why do people play fantasy football?
It's fun. They want to win. They want that camaraderie. They want to have this experience.
It's more than just a game, and it should be more than just a training.
How can we make it fun?
How can we have a little fun along the way?
Is there a way to bring in competition?
Is there a way to bring in play?
Is there a way to bring in improv?
Is there a way to bring in games?
Here are a few episodes that can help with this:
Episode 63: 4 Ways to Use Humor and Storytelling in Your Nonprofit Training
Episode 36: How Nonprofit Learning and Development Leaders Can Use Play to Create Organizational Change with Acey Holmes
Episode 07: Do THIS and You Will Never Have a Boring Virtual Training Again with Melissa Dinwiddie
Episode 05: Three Must-Haves in Any Virtual Training
People play fantasy football for a variety of reasons, and obviously, the appeal is huge, or we wouldn't see the revenue and the numbers that we see.
Training can be that too - we just have to look at it a little bit differently.
So I want to encourage us, as L&D pros, to think about how we can build community, how we can create opportunities for continuous learning, how we can provide support and resources that help our audience on the job, and how we can help them have a little fun along the way.
To hear the full conversation I had on the Learning for Good Podcast, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 99.
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