How on Point is Your Gamification Game?

When you were a kid faced with an unwelcome task, like cleaning, did any sunny relative or teacher ever say, “Let’s make a game of it”? The philosophy behind gamification in the workplace isn’t much more complicated than that.

Essentially, gamification involves turning (usually unpleasant) work, like training or sales, into a fun videogame-like competition. This can involve levelling (level advancement), badges, scoring systems or other game elements. The point is to make tedious tasks more fun. But before you go all Mary Poppins on your staff, it’s worth pointing out that there is a good way and a bad way to go about it. Gamification can be an effective tool to facilitate learning, productivity and engagement; but it can also be a total waste of time, seem juvenile or just annoy people.

To gamify aspects of your workplace, there are a few things you should keep in mind: