Why you should implement gamification?!

Trend

Gamification is a global trend that is likely to affect operations in more than 40% of companies in the next few years. In 2014, over 70% of the 2000 largest global companies had at least one gamification project running. Research from Gartner Group shows that 50% of companies that work with improvement processes have already or are planning to base them on gamification.

Background

Why are we moving towards gamification? The list is long but to name a few we have: email overload, disengaged coworkers, unproductivity, and challenges with sharing expertise/knowledge within organizations.

Drive engagement with gamification

A common misunderstanding is that gamification aims to introduce some kind of game. Gamification involves using game mechanics and game design techniques in a non-gaming world. Applied correctly, it is a powerful tool for engaging employees, customers and the public to change behaviors, develop skills and accelerate innovation and development. When implementing gamification, realism is a crucial factor to succeed so the employees (players) involved are feeling that it is "real". For gamification to work, the target group must understand the mechanism and get engaged.

Implementation checklist

• Use clear pedagogoy and rules so that everyone understands and becomes engaged
• Be sure to provide feedback and ongoing feedback
• Give recognition and reward as close to the performance as possible
• Allow participants to decide what they are interested in

Typical gamification words

Points

Represents a fictitious value. The important thing is that the score is non-monetary, that they can be accumulated and obtained for execution accomplishment. The non-monetary value it makes possible to measure many different things, whether it's money, time, number, etc.

Rewards

Rewards are obtained through achievements or through redemption of points. The win can be real (eg a physical product, education, gift card) or virtual/social points (bonus, recognition, diploma, new level).

Badges

Rewards in the form of virtual tiles, plaques, cups, etc is obtained as a proof that the player has achieved one specific goals. Badges are often obtained on several levels.

Ranking

Score or ratings of how well the players scored. Can be used in the form of leagues and in different forms of leaderboards

Level

When the user has reached a goal or passed a number of achievements, the user enters a new game environment, such as a new "world". Also called “levels” and can be applied in many different variants.

Gamified knowledge sharingFor us at Leader Island, gamification is part of what we call “Gamified Knowledge Sharing”. It is applied in our solutions for engaged coworker programs and for team collaboration in order to decrease email overload. Our guiding principle is that productivity starts with engaged and motivated employees. In order to achieve this, one needs to understand the driving forces that affects people: ie a clear purpose, clear goals, desired effects, and a clear prioritization of what to measure.

www.leaderisland.com