Enterprise gamification, making everyday business tasks such as data entry and management training more engaging, continues to see burgeoning interest. Today, Rachel Emma Silverman from the Wall Street Journal has a piece on gamification of the workplace. With research from Gartner and M2 and quotes from gamification experts Mario Herger, Gabe Zichermann, Kris Duggan, and Byron Reeves, the article presents a good overview of where enterprise gamification stands today.
Rachel cites two examples of IBM and Deloitte using gamification in the workplace through reward and competition. Chuck Hamilton, IBM’s virtual learning leader mentioned that in addition to the community gaming features that help colleagues across the world connect and stay engaged, some of their projects also include interactive models of virtual cities and simulations for business scenarios. At Deloitte’s Leadership Academy for management training, users receive virtual badges after completing training courses and unlock more complex training courses when basic levels are completed.
There are still pitfalls to address, and adding needless hoops to the workplace does little for workplace motivation. The gamification projects must be well designed towards motivating desired actions. As Kris Duggan of Badgeville puts it, “If you are a bad manager, gamification won’t help you.”
Be sure to read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.
