Playing games
for fun and profit.
The line between work and play is
becoming increasingly blurred in
companies all across America today.
To illustrate that point, technology
industry research firm Gartner
estimates that by 2014 approximately
70 percent of large enterprises will
use game techniques for at least one
business process.
For its part, market researcher M2 Research expects that revenue from “gamification”
software, consulting and marketing will explode – from about $100 million today to
more than $900 million by 2014.
These bullish forecasts – and Gartner’s belief that enterprise expectations for
gamification have yet to peak – reflect the fact that online gaming has become a
significant pursuit for people when they’re not on the job. A research survey by GSN
Games Network, for instance, indicates that 60 percent of respondents play online
games daily and spend more than 11 hours a week playing. Driven in large part by the
rapid emergence and expansion of social networks and smartphones, gaming is seen
by legions of off-duty workers as a way to relax and stimulate the brain.
When it comes to using games in the workplace, however, it’s all about enhancing
employee engagement and learning as companies strive to become knowledge
organizations that can move quickly and smartly in the complex and competitive
global marketplace.
2
From my perspective, there are five main
reasons why the business community has
embraced gamification as a learning tool:
• NO ATTENTION DEFICIT
Games really do up-level engagement.
People are interested; they focus; and
they stick with the learning material.
• OFFSETTING BOREDOM
Business life can be exciting and
enriching; but, obviously, it’s not always
fun. Games that offer knowledge are
generally upbeat, and they add spice
and sparkle to what can sometimes be
a dull day-to-day company existence.
• NON-TRAINING TRAINING
The new, easy-to-use game teaches
without telling. People interact and
learn, but they don’t always know
they’re actually learning. This informal
approach is often preferable to formal
classroom settings, where many people
feel uncomfortable and unmotivated.
We also know that employees do not
generally share what they’ve learned in
a classroom with organizational peers
and colleagues.
• STOKING OUR
COMPETITIVE INSTINCTS
People like to face off and test
themselves against friendly rivals.
And when learning games offer points,
badges or leader boards that let players
view one another’s scores, performance
is heightened – and more knowledge is
gained and shared.
• STAYING CONNECTED
The virtual office means that many
employees work from home or
remote locations; they rarely meet to
collaborate and create. Team-based
games help even the most dispersed
teams bond, and this frequently boosts
the quality of innovation.
Another noteworthy enterprise learning
game, in my opinion, is Microsoft’s Ribbon
Hero 2, which teaches people about
Microsoft Office Suite. As one enthusiastic
reviewer said Ribbon Hero 2 is like “playing
on Xbox live, minus the screaming
12-year-olds.” Featuring comic strips,
colorful graphics, surprise animations,
multiple levels, time travel, space ships,
Greek Gods, and bow-and-arrow battles,
Ribbon Hero 2 revolves around the story
of Clippy, Microsoft’s infamous paperclip
helper. With each time period, players
get to explore a new game board with
challenges they must complete to get
to the next level. Each challenge takes
learners into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or
OneNote to complete a task.
There are many new enterprise learning
games that get employees’ competitive
juices flowing in the name of acquiring
more knowledge and driving business
results. But I like two in particular.
Bunchball, for example, has created
an app called Nitro for Salesforce that
integrates directly into the leading cloud
CRM platform, Salesforce.com. Nitro
offers competing players, teams and
groups an array of incentives and rewards
for performing, and its leader board
scores are closely watched throughout the
process. In many respects, this represents
the gamification of more conventional
dashboard reporting.
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As a result, people compete against
colleagues, classmates and friends for
the highest Ribbon Hero 2 scores – as
well as the best ways to make Microsoft
Office Suite a highly productive business
tool. Some people even put their Ribbon
Hero 2 scores on their resumes! Despite
their tremendous potential for extending
knowledge throughout companies,
next-generation enterprise learning games
require a good deal of managerial thought,
care and consideration before they’re fully
implemented within an organization.
Here are five key variables to help
insure success:
• FOCUS: Before gaming technology is
adopted, it’s important to understand
what skill, behavior, or area you’re
trying to improve. Games need specific
intent around them, and managers
need to make certain that they’re not
being open-ended as they deploy this
learning technology. In addition, it’s
essential that the games actually reward
desired behaviors, rather than doling
out meaningless awards, points or
badges that are unrelated to business
results. Alignment with your company’s
overarching business goals is
also essential.
• DESIGN: This really matters. If a game
isn’t interesting or relevant, or if it’s
too easy or too hard, it won’t have
the desired impact on the top or
bottom lines.
• LIMITS: Every business issue can’t
be solved by turning it into a game.
Certain information – like that in the
HR department – just needs to be
known, and shouldn’t be made lighter,
more competitive, or turned into an
analogy. Also, developing and
deploying big, large-scale games is
usually problematic and ineffective.
• PLANNING: Companies cannot move
into gaming blindly. A big budget and
lots of corporate desire are not enough
to generate required results. Early
strategic thinking is a must, and one
central question is whether to buy or
build your game – or both.
• BACKLASH: Organizational culture can
be affected by gaming technology.
So companies need to watch carefully
that friendly competition doesn’t
ever get out of hand, fostering ill-will
among employees.
The future of enterprise gaming is
bright. And it will be part of a rich
variety. In several years, for example, I
envision an increasing amount of blended
learning – including teachers, games,
virtual learning, and e-learning – with
all the tools in the mix as well, especially
mobile devices. Hopefully, this will help
everyone in an organization gain the
necessary knowledge to advance the
business – regardless of individual or
learning styles.
Xerox Learning Services designs and delivers
technology-enabled learning solutions and
strategic learning consulting services. Xerox
believes that learning can empower individuals
and transform organizations. The company is
committed to the idea that learning can drive
business performance and growth.
To learn more, visit www.xerox.com/learning or call 877.414.2676
©2015 Xerox Corporation. All rights reserved. Xerox® and Xerox and Design® are trademarks of Xerox Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. AC140180. BR13045.
About the Author
Jason Gorfine
is the User Experience
Manager at Tableau
Software. He has been
working in both the
training and marketing
industries for over 13 years. He has led
web/mobile UX design and consulting
efforts for clients such as Bloomberg,
State Street Global Advisors, T-Mobile,
and Walmart. An award-winning
designer, Gorfine holds an undergraduate
degree in Mass Communications from
Virginia Tech.