Gamification is the application of game design principles to non-game environments. It is not connected with game design, it's the applying of ideas into other spheres. Gamification encourages players to involve in desired behaviors by pointing them the way to perfection. It tries to make technology and business more appealing because people are originally inclined to play.
How companies are using Gamification?
Brands offer some advanced ways to integrate game-like features into common activities every day, because games are wonderful tools when it's necessary to keep people interested for a long period of time, build relationships and trust between people, and develop their creative skills. Imagine that people work late at night not because they have to, but because the work is so interesting and amusing that they simply WANT to work late without some additional payments.
Gamification pays a lot of attention to human motivation in the process.
There exist two important kinds of motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic relates to external motivational techniques such as money, trophies, etc. For extrinsically-motivated people, it is not the action or behavior itself which they like, but the outcome.
Intrinsic relates to internal motivations such as mastery, meaning, enjoyment, positive feelings and happiness. It's a drive to complete an action, for example, the working task.
Gamification suggests extrinsic rewards such as badges, trophies, awards, levels, scores, points, missions, quizzes, leaderboards, ranking and rating…But when people are first motivated extrinsically, the extrinsic motivation has the chance to grow into the intrinsic one. So in order to motivate employees with the help of gamification, it has to target correct, intrinsically-motivated behaviours.
Let's talk about some tools and how and why they motivate employees to work. These tools are used for getting people motivated by supporting their efforts with a (virtual) reward, also to raise employee working status and. Rewarding employees for their activities in real time gives them motivation to do more work.
Add points to tasks that need to be completed. Points are constituent units of measure in gamification. In such a way the system counts player's actions according to the acceptable behaviors in the whole gamification strategy.
Create a Leaderboard to show top performers. Leaderboards contain a certain the social aspect, it is showing the players sorted in descending order with the highest number of points at the top. It arises a feeling of competition in the players.
Completion of challenges can be tied to unlocking higher levels. Challenge is a strong game tool for people's motivation to act, especially when they are sure they are working to attain something significant, important.
Take into consideration people's emotions. Aesthetic elements are able to establish a playful atmosphere and involve the player on an emotional level.
Gamification of Enterprise software allows employees, partners and customers to cooperate with business apps, processes and systems of an organization in more funny and engaging manner. Enterprise applications gamification can motivate employees to adjust their behavior to organizational strategies, tasks and disciplinary plans thus resulting in better acceptance of management plans along with increased productivity. These solutions provide businesses with several advantages: employee engagement, direct signs of accomplishment and progress, etc.
Measure everything: Gamification programs should always be aimed at enhancing certain characteristics, for example leads per month or employee satisfaction. Placing measurable results at the core of your gamification goals will turn it into easy determination of the success or failure of your program.
Give Feedback: Giving feedback is one of the important ways gamification uses. By giving the feedback, you can accelerate the speed of acceptance of new behavior. This helps you to perform your goals faster.
Exercise a Sense of Completion: Employees that always lag behind at work often lose their motivation. By splitting up a large goal into small tasks which can each be completed, employees will feel, and be, more productive.
What are the main Pros and Cons of Gamification?
-Gamification Enhances Employee Engagement: many employees need some additional motivation, so many companies added badges and rankings to motivate its workforce.
-Gamification Shows Direct Signs of Accomplishment And Progress: working with gamified software, employees get regular updates on their performance while they gain higher rankings and badges that attract the attention of your coworkers.
-Gamification Helps Companies to Identify Their Potential Leaders: gamification helps to recognize motivated workers and future leaders.
- Forced play isn't really playing: when a company presses its employees to play and games become the part of the working process, it is no longer a game and some might say that it also becomes a form of enforcement.
-Gamification can lead to cheating: people began cheating in games since they started playing them. When the decisions about people's jobs and career prospects are made on the basis of a game, there is also exists temptation to cheat.
-Most games get boring: employees may get tired of challenges badges and leaderboards made to keep their motivation in jobs they don't want to do in any case. Gamification may offer short-term performance rather than long-term benefits.
Of course it's not enough just to add game-like features to every job, and neglect the long-term wealth of the people who use the software. However, when game mechanics are carefully applied, gamification can add fun, meaning, and motivation to the workers. What do you think about gamifying enterprise software? Have you ever worked with gamified software apps? Share your opinions about working in with software apps with gamification elements.
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