Why Organisational Gamification was Inevitable and Not a Fad

I believe that there are several factors which made Gamification of organisations inevitable.  It is often
criticised for being a fad.  I think that there are some aspects of it which could be.  For example, the dreaded ‘badges and leader boards’ definition of Gamification is unbelievably limiting and that aspect might be short-lived.  However, there are elements of Gamification which represent the larger economy, general opinion and the direction for organisations into the future.  It is something much deeper than superficial badges (although they have their merits too).  This is what Gamification should be understood as, what should be taken from games and it is happening right now.

First, the power of gaming as a medium is growing.  The ‘games cause violence’ pack is dwindling, just as it did for every new entertainment medium before (television, radio etc.).  Gamers are not geeky, social outcasts; everyone can be a gamer and many are.  Games are going mobile, casual and social.  Games are big business and on the rise.  If you are interested in the stats, get your fill from PWC here.  I am sure you are all aware of the huge success of Grand Theft Auto Five.  The game made $1 billion in the first three days of being sold.  The fastest film to reach the $1 billion mark was The Avengers, in 19 days.  Games are big news and it is inevitable that they would have an influence over other aspects of our lives.

Second, Gamification has evolved from 21st century organisational needs.  In some cases it has slipped in unnoticed, in other cases it as added an extra twist to an existing management trend.  There are ways that Gamification is relevant today, inevitable and not a fad and the points below show why this is the case and what organisations should be taking from games and translating into Gamification:

• Feedback – games allow constant feedback and Gamification can be used in this way.  This fits with other organisational trends, such as the breaking down of communication barriers across the organisation, at different levels.  It also allows the organisation to exert control and monitor, but in a constructive way that is more carrot than stick.  It also marries up with Generation Y’s need for constant feedback as they move into organisations (see ‘Motivating Generation X and Y with Gamfication’).
• Competition – games can promote competition, against others but also yourself.  Players are able to see feedback about how they performed and strive to better this performance.  This can be a powerful use of Gamification.  Businesses need to remain competitive.  Especially in a recession and when innovation and market dynamism are so powerful.  Encouraging competition within the workforce, giving employees more autonomy and allowing them to self-monitor can help this process along.  Gamification is therefore, a natural and fun progression of this.
• Teamwork – A lot of games and Gamification promote and facilitate teamwork.  There has been a huge move to making use of teams in organisations due to their self-management, innovation and so on.  Teams are a part of the ‘Japanisation’ of the Western organisation.  Gamification, therefore, can be seen as an extension of this, a means to promote collaboration and cooperation.
• Learning and Development – Organisations have come to appreciate the power of their human resources, especially in terms of their capacity for good ideas, creativity and innovation.  They, therefore, want their employees to be lifelong learners and to constantly develop their skills and expertise.  Organisations can no longer promise to offer a ‘job for life’, so they have moved to support employees’ employability.  Games require constant learning and development of skills and Gamification could be the next frontier for this in organisations.
• Creativity – Games are fantastic for generating creative problem-solving and innovative thinking.  They require it and reward it.  These skills are needed for 21st Century businesses to survive and thrive.  Therefore, Gamification should be used to reflect and encourage this.  See our post, '21st Century Skills and Games Based Learning'.
• Change and Flexibility – Games often require the player to be adaptable to change.  The current economic climate and dog eat dog nature of capitalism means that the business world is extremely chaotic and dynamic.  Employees and organisations need to be responsive, flexible and welcoming of change.  Gamification could be great at encouraging this outlook and culture amongst organisations.
• Fun – There is a move to make work more fun.  Organisations are now more aware of the benefits of a ‘carrot’ approach to motivation, as well as the creative benefits of having a fun office.  For example, Google offices have slides, scooters, lava lamps, pianos and so on, all designed to promote creativity, collaboration and innovation (as well as keeping people at work longer and feeling they owe the organisation).  Generation Y also work to fund their lifestyle as this is the most important motivator for them.  So organisations try to bring this ‘lifestyle’ into work.  They are motivated by something more than the money itself.  These things also represent youth and dynamism, which are championed by many organisations.  The Gamification of spaces and processes at work is probably the most apparent usage.

I study management and organisations, so this area as well as GBL and Gamification interest me greatly.  It strikes me that Gamification embodies many of the directions that management is taking in the 21st Century.  The fact that we now have a name for it doesn’t make it a fad.  The term Gamification has more scope than badges and leaderboards and many game-like elements have been translated into management.  Organisations might not see how games can help them yet.  But, with the growing strength and following of games as an entertainment and learning medium, I don’t think it will be too long until they catch on.  This could be just the beginning for Gamification.

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Gamification of the Workplace

Last week I talked about the gamification of classrooms.  However, gamification of work has been the focus of some attention recently.  The Economist published an article earlier this month titled: ‘More than just a game: Video games are behind the latest fad in management’ (click here for an online version).

The article talks of the general gaming trends and how people will spend a lot of time, money and real effort playing games.  At work, people are essentially bribed to do repetitive tasks, but have no trouble spending hours building up their characters in online role playing games, meticulously caring for their plants on virtual farms, chasing high scores and pursuing the tops of leader boards.  Management gurus have harnessed this power and installed some of gaming’s basic elements such as badges, levels and leader boards into workplaces.

However, the article argues several things.  Firstly, elements such as rewards (money), leader boards and employee of the month competitions have been around for a long time.  They refer to arguments that say gamification is simply a cunning way of exploiting human psychology to make a profit (akin to gambling).  Another argument against gamification is that people may soon become bored of the trivial, faddish interpretation of gamification and even see it as patronising.  Others argue that employees may become cynical of methods of boosting productivity that cost their organisation nothing and that enjoying work in itself, without the need for a reward is the best motivation.    

These arguments are completely valid.  However, they are valid for the simple, shallow form of gamification that the article is addressing.  In my previous post, I talked about how gamification can be understood in two broad ways: harnessing more games based learning and gamifying the classroom (or in this case, workplace) in a more general sense.  The general sense I am referring to is using gaming principles such as badges and levels to monitor and encourage good behaviour and attainment (productivity).

I do think that badges and competitions have their place.  They can be powerfully motivating.  However, I also see that their success could be short lived and seen as patronising, manipulative and not universally engaging.  Further than this, I think the main problem is the changes produced are short term and shallow.  By this, I mean that they may encourage competition and productivity.  But to work long term, the employees’ interest would have to be sustained.  There are some people who are just not competitive and others who would wonder why they should work harder for a badge and not a bonus or a promotion.

Gamification needs to be richer than this.  There is a lot more to World of Warcraft than simply gaining achievements.  Granted, you cannot turn work fully into a game, however, let’s just revisit the definition of gamification.  It involves taking game principles and using them in non-games.  In the workplace, this could involve making more use of games based learning.  For example, training is a great way of bringing games into the workplace.  Tailor made training games can involve complex challenges that lead to meaningful rewards: deep, long lasting learning.  These can have a real impact on the organisation and do not simply involve training vocational skills.  They can also be used to reduce silo thinking and increase collaboration, enhancing creativity, innovation and reducing wastage (and, in turn, money).  Some games can also train employees to be more environmentally friendly, which is good for both the CSR department and the Finance department.  For more information, see our previous blog articles: ‘Adult Games Based Learning and sim-uni’ and ‘Proof of the Pudding Part Three’.

Making every day working life resemble a game is also the way many offices seem to be going.  Google have slides, giant bouncy balls, scooters, foam baths, lava lamps and dogs in their offices.  They believe that this environment is perfect for generating creativity and innovation.  Some workplaces have aerobics sessions in the morning to wake people up and small logic puzzles to get the brain going.  These are already great way of getting short games and fun into the working day.  How about having Wii Sport, Just Dance or Wii Zumba breaks?  What about doing a level / mission of a game to get your brain going?  How about a game of sudoku, a crossword puzzle or an exercise on Nintendo’s Brain Training?  These could be done in groups or at a whole office level, which would integrate team building into everyday life, in a fun way.

Gamification is young; therefore it seems churlish to right it off as a fad.  I have seen many figures that suggest gamification is on the rise and will be one of the most important trends in the business world in terms of employee (and customer) engagement.  I feel that, to work, gamification needs to be given a little more credit and needs to be more rich than it is currently understood to be.  Have a look at this TemboSocial infographic for some of the statistics.  Gamification could be a powerful tool and I feel that it could be big, if properly utilised.

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