Gamification It has been a buzzword in web marketing circles for several years. It refers to awarding badges, points, benefits, or other digital rewards to website visitors who perform desired actions, such as registering an account, leaving a comment, or rating content. With estimates of up to 170 million active players in the US used to “leveling up” by accumulating points, the strategy has proven very successful on customer-facing websites.
With such runaway success, companies have naturally begun to explore how to implement similar systems. indoors the company as well. Every organization needs to encourage some behaviors that nobody likes to do or recognize exceptional performance. Why not use gamification to reward them?
In the area of learning systems and social engagement, solutions from Rypple, Yammer and Bunchball have started to find traction in the company. But basic productivity apps like office suites and project management apps have been harder to sell.
In our research, we routinely hear the following objections:
- Cheaters always prosper. Often referred to as playing the system, companies are wary of systems that can easily be fooled into awarding prizes they did not win. Cheating is less of a problem with customer-facing systems, but within the enterprise, companies must rely on the performance data they receive, especially if it is used for important processes such as performance reviews. As an ironic indicator of the state of gaming protection in the industry, the Gamification Summit recently had to cancel their Best Gamification Apps contest because they discovered that their voting process had been tricked.
- We have met the enemy and he is not us.. Companies are reluctant to introduce competition between teammates in work teams. Again, in public-facing systems, having losers has little negative effect, but in project teams, managers seek to motivate the entire team. Studies in the workplace have shown that carrot / stick motivators only have short-term positive effects and often result in bitterness, forgotten feelings, and accusations of favoritism. We hear over and over again “we compete against our competitors, not against ourselves.”
- Farmville Task Management. Businesses are already battling the constant distraction from Facebook, YouTube, and PC games. Even employees who aren’t intentionally messing with the system can get too focused on earning badges, cheating on their profile, and socializing. Businesses fear that task management gamification could easily become just another distraction from actual work.
However, gamification is too compelling to ignore, and if these objections can be addressed, it can prove a powerful boost to business productivity. For example, cheating can be addressed with an investigation process. Universities have handled this problem for centuries. Adjusting incentives toward cooperation and moving away from competition within the team can support team building, and keeping the system stingy enough that a constant chain of rewards doesn’t distract workers is another positive step.