When playful elements are used to achieve certain (business) goals, we speak of gamification. We encounter this issue much more frequently in everyday life than many people realize. Gamification is when we collect points at the supermarket, get miles for flights or cut out coupons from packaging to win a trip at the end. But we are also experiencing the use of gamification elements online: We receive points for rating hotels on travel portals such as Tripadvisor or collect badges when selling goods on eBay. Mechanisms that also play a role in the world of computer games: Super Mario collects coins, frequent flyers collect bonus miles.
Gamification principles in the development of innovations
Gamification elements are exciting tools, especially for activities that rely on team creativity. For example, joint outdoor tasks at team workshops can help people get to know each other and increase team spirit. But collecting badges, which is familiar from computer games, can also help to keep participants focused and having fun during a workshop.
Sometimes I use so-called scorecards in workshops, for example. Participants receive points if they complete certain tasks well or make particularly good contributions that contribute to the common goal. They enter these points on their scorecard and the participants with the most points receive a prize at the end.
It’s all about the mix
However, this process does not suit every target group or every problem. For gamification to work really well, many factors should ideally be combined, such as leaderboards, challenging tasks and increasing levels of difficulty. Elements that also fascinate people when playing games and can captivate them for hours, whether in Ludo or The Legend of Zelda.
Think about it: What playful elements could improve the work in your team?
