Behavior Change Bingo Makes Wellness Campaigns Fun

October 20, 2011

Positive or negative peer pressure profoundly influences employees’ ability to achieve health goals. As its name implies, Behavior Change Bingo is a spinoff of the popular game; the objective is motivating employees to maintain a desired change until it’s a habit.

Players become more alert to potential workplace hazards as well as coworker behaviors that affect their ability to win, creating a supportive culture that contributes to the corporate wellness program's overall success.

Pick a significant group behavior targeted by the employee health promotion program. Identify areas where success or failure in achieving this desired behavior can be readily identified, for example:

• Compliance with safety policies/use of safety equipment
• Substance-abuse related accidents/offenses
• Conforming with no-smoking policy.

Post the game rules, start and end dates, and behaviors considered an infraction of the desired behavior change, such as:

• Not using appropriate safety equipment/body mechanics reported by designated supervisors; any on-the-job accident
• Failing a random drug test
• Smoking in designated no-smoking areas.

Issue each participating employee a bingo card. (A number of online bingo card generators allow you to make custom cards at no cost.)

To keep things fair, consider some method (such as a coding system) that ensures each employee gets only 1 bingo card per game. On each day of the game, have a manager draw a bingo number; post it in an easily accessible location (intranet, breakroom). Maintain a central game board, where employees can view all numbers drawn in the current game.

Hold a new drawing every day there’s no infraction of the rules. If a behavior infraction does occur, the current game stops and a new one starts after a predetermined penalty period. As a learning opportunity and depending on the circumstances, discuss details of an infraction without divulging the name of the person responsible. When an employee presents a winning card, verify and post the winning numbers, then pull all cards and issue new ones. (Some wellness programs use the same cards over and over, but an employee who wants to try a new card, must return the old one.) Start a new game the following day.

Winners of each game receive a prize at the game’s conclusion. To make it even more interesting, place all winners’ names into a lottery for an annual grand prize of even greater value.

Original work by Kathy Cash.