Introduction
We all remember the original "Halo" video game, which was released in 2001. The game quickly became a hit because it appealed to our desire for rewards and competition. Gamification uses those same principles to encourage employees to play along at work.
Employees, particularly millennials, love games. But gamification in the workplace can engage and motivate employees.
Let's get one thing out of the way: Gamification does not mean turning your office into an arcade. It's not about giving out prizes for the most efficient employees, or asking them to participate in a day-long game show at the end of the month. Gamification is a way to engage and motivate employees by using elements from games, like points and rewards, to help them achieve goals.
In some cases, it can even be used as a form of performance management—especially since gamification can reduce stress by rewarding employees for completing tasks on time or helping others in their department succeed. But before you go implementing gamification at work without considering other strategies first, here are some things you should know about this innovative new trend:
Gamification uses game mechanics like points, challenge, and collaboration to create a playful environment. It is all about making work fun while encouraging participation and engagement to enhance productivity.
Gamification is a way to make work fun. It uses game mechanics like points, challenge, and collaboration to create a playful environment.
It can be used to encourage participation and engagement. For example, if you have an annual employee recognition ceremony where you choose the top 10% performers of the year and reward them with something special (a trophy or cash prize), that's gamification in action.
Gamification can also be used to enhance productivity by encouraging learning or collaboration between staff members who are working on similar tasks at the same time. If you have multiple teams working on one project but only one person needs access to certain information at any given time, this could cause problems for team cohesion if not addressed properly through gamification techniques such as leaderboards showing who has completed their goals first or whether they're doing better than other teams based on metrics like number of hours worked per week versus number of tasks completed per hour spent working together collaboratively towards achieving shared goals)
There are four desires that drive human behavior. These are the same four desires that drive everybody playing games, watching movies or reading books.
You already know that people are motivated by the four desires: obtaining something of value, avoiding pain, gaining knowledge or skills and freedom of choice. It’s no surprise then that these same four desires drive human behavior when it comes to playing games, watching movies or even reading books.
In fact, people will play games if they are able to satisfy any one of those four needs in some way. They may want to win the game so they can feel like they accomplished something valuable; they may be afraid of losing so they avoid pain and continue playing; they may learn how to play better and gain a skill set while playing at home alone each day after work; and finally, because we all have free will (a topic for another day), even if someone doesn't want any particular outcome from playing an online game there's still a sense of freedom available at any time when playing - you can log out whenever you please!
We want to obtain something of value, whether it's physical or emotional; we want to avoid pain; we want freedom of choice; and we want to gain knowledge or skills.
The four desires that drive human behavior are:
Obtain something of value. We want to obtain something of value, whether it's physical or emotional; we want to avoid pain; we want freedom of choice; and we want to gain knowledge or skills.
Avoid pain. The desire for reward is what makes us feel good when we see levels or badges pop up after completing a task at work. But if the reward isn't there, people will stop doing the tasks because they don't have any motivation for them anymore.
Gain knowledge or skills. We need challenges so that we can learn something new about ourselves and our environment every day—this keeps us from losing interest in our jobs over time because there's always something new happening around us! If nothing changes within yourself then why would anyone else care about what you're doing? They won't unless they're getting paid by someone else who does care (like me) but I digress...
This desire for reward is what makes us feel good when we see levels or badges pop up after completing a task at work.
This desire for reward is what makes us feel good when we see levels or badges pop up after completing a task at work. That’s why companies like Google use gamification to motivate their employees to do more and better in their day-to-day jobs, even if they didn’t sign up for the program in the first place.
The best part about this type of motivation is that it doesn’t just affect your employees or clients—it affects you too! It gives your company a sense of purpose and achievement, which means everyone feels good about themselves at the end of the day.
Studies show that employees who are given choices in how they do their jobs are happier and more productive than those who aren't.
The key to providing meaningful choice is to make sure that there's a good reason behind it. You don't want to give your employees too many choices, or they'll end up overwhelmed and paralyzed. The most effective way to avoid this is by providing small, easily digestible bits of choice: the ability to choose between two different flavors of yogurt for breakfast or whether they want their desk facing north or south are both easy changes that can have a big impact on how people feel about their work environment.
The best gamified systems use goal-setting and milestone recognition to encourage employees' pursuit of new skills and knowledge.
The best gamified systems use goal-setting and milestone recognition to encourage employees' pursuit of new skills and knowledge.
Goal setting is a key part of gamification. Employees can set goals at their own pace, rather than having to wait until annual review time. Many companies already have some sort of goal-setting process in place, but they often don't include the kind of feedback loop that encourages people to keep trying until they achieve their objectives—and that's where gamification comes in! Milestone recognition is also important; it gives employees quick feedback on whether they're on track with their goals and provides motivation when they hit a new milestone in their learning process (or if they fall off track). It's nice when your boss cheers you on for hitting 9 out 10 steps toward your goal; but it's even nicer when he or she calls you into his office to give you a virtual gold star for achieving 7 out 10 steps toward your objective!
Gamification can be used in many ways in the office environment
Gamification can be used in many ways in the office environment. Some of these include:
Encouraging employees to use an app or website by giving them badges, points and leaderboards.
Encouraging employees to complete tasks within the app or website by rewarding them with badges, points and leaderboards.
Improving employee productivity by using gamification techniques such as leaderboards, rewards for completing work quickly and punishments for taking too long or doing a poor job.
Conclusion
In the end, gamification is a great way to get your employees more engaged and motivated. Studies have shown that it can increase productivity and improve quality. If you're looking for ways to use game mechanics in your office or workplace, it's worth checking out some of the resources we've linked out above. It's easy!