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Successful engagement of your teams takes different approaches and since not all approaches work for every situation or culture, it’s important to explore and create a toolbox of techniques you can use. In this particular web panel, we’re delving into one that is gaining popularity - game design thinking and application. !

Our panel of HDAA members and a special international guest, all with down-to-earth practical experience in performance management, discuss this particular approach, its impacts and what are some of the core things you need to consider before starting your journey on gaming the workplace. !We explore how this approach can range in purpose from transferring new knowledge, testing and experimenting with new ways of behaving, fostering effective team work and more! !The following contains the majority of the discussion and provides the resource links and materials for your use. We encourage you to listen to the recording at: https://www.hdaa.com.au/Workshops/RecentWorkshopsEvents.aspx

The Panelists

Simone Jo Moore !Simone thoroughly enjoys the repartee that leads to evolution and revolution to jumpstart people’s thinking, behaviour and actions at any level. Being focussed on the bottom line includes making time for people – they matter and it’s important to help them eliminate the barriers or get creative within them! !!

John Schumacher !A dedicated, people orientated manager, John won the itSMFA Leadit Chairman’s Prize, for Best Overall Speaker with the story of his ROC staff program. He has a storybook full of leadership and performance management experience and always ready for a little fun in getting the message across on engaging your people.

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Performance Management - Are You Game?!Web Panel - 18 June 2015

Chris Haspell !Chris has enthusiasm, passion, and an honest desire to serve others. A bright, and inspiring young leader he won the innovation award at itSMFA Leadit for his and his team’s gamification implementation. Constantly looking to up his game, his quote: ‘Winning an innovation award for gamification was cool. What's cooler? Getting someone inspired by your work and having success.’

Cyril Metral !Cyril is an enthusiast for information management and open-minded in finding the approaches that make a team productive. Adept at communicating project methodologies he’s known in his teams for his novel and refreshing "Project Card" concept to manage large programs of work.

!Ken Gonzalez !

Ken is an Author, Speaker and Digital Business Alchemist - he certainly mixes some interesting concoctions as an industry expert and leader in Outside-In Thinking, Lean, Service Management and bacon! Regularly invited to write and give presentations internationally, Ken is pragmatic with a healthy dash of positive cynicism.

The Discussion

Gamification is: !“Gamification typically involves applying game design thinking to non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging. Gamification can potentially be applied to any industry and almost anything to create fun and engaging experiences, converting users into players.”"

http://gamification.org/wiki/Gamification: !

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Why is gamification a good topic and needed to be discussed?!!• Alignment to specific outcomes and measuring that in a way that builds success and builds

reputation and credibility of the team and being able to recognise the stars and overall team contribution.!

• Move away from people being heroes, everyone knows their roles!• As a manager the ability to manage up into the broader organisation on outcomes-based

information so senior management understand the contribution the team is making to the customers.!

• Information age and moving with the times and what we can accomplish in our performance management!

• It’s a customer centric role we’re generally performing and we as managers and leaders of those people making the experiences for those delivering the services as well as the customers.!

• It brings the interest on the objectives so we know what we have to achieve and deliver.!• Gamification isn’t new - we only have to think of the example of martial arts belt system and showing

you’ve reached a particular level of achievement and mastery.!

Are we failing to understand what drives our people to perform and including them in the strategy and application of what approaches we use for performance management?!!• The outcomes are probably not going to change because they are customer requirements

but there are people doing things behind the scenes that are just as important. !• Not just seeing the surface layer but all things that lead to that outcome. !• Practical Tip - Each Friday we use a visual management board and ask them how did you

contribute to the outcomes this week. So there is a team effort to produce and to express what occurred during the week. It drives their behaviours during the week and what they also have to achieve.!

• We have to find the right alignment. Finding the right incentives for the individuals that then ends up helping them meet the company’s motivations as well. Gamification is a good way to accomplish that.!

As managers we’re expected to have and use basic human psychology in managing our people yet at times we struggle with the skills - is understanding game design approach expanding our ability as people managers? !!• By opening a channel where there’s instant feedback around performance management it can

start the discussion with the individual, reflected in statistics but then get their input. It puts a story and framework around the statistics.!

• Gamification is really a process. It helps me think more deeply and project my strategy and get the buy-in of the team members. As a group we build the design, ongoing and trying always to reach the objectives. It increases the performance, reduces the stress as it’s very factual, tangible and you can have more fun during the day.

• The timeliness of the recognition and making the measures meaningful that we can share in a positive sense. Some measures are boring but necessary - incumbent on us so that we can measure a lot of positives and build them into good news stories and that roles into things like sales collateral or capability statements or good customer case studies that shows the insight into our approach to things.

• In terms of the design you really make sure that you have the timeless of the recognition - even without reward, building the sense of achievement - what I achieved and how it contributed to the team and give it visibility. !

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Comments on the analytics and stakeholders!!Gamification Analytics Stakeholders drives home the point identifying which stakeholders and what parts of gamification they need to care about it. Game analytics need to be visible to boost employees performance.

! Source: Gamification analytics matter a lot. More than ROI or KPIs - http://www.gameffective.com/gamification-how-tos/gamification-analytics-matter-a-lot-more-than-roi-or-kpis/#sthash.auPuA4Jd.dpuf !• Conflicting stakeholders that you need to be aware of especially the game designer and

my staff being the game customer. • Common goal is to make it fun but ideally we want the staff experience to be engaging,

understandable, feedback is timely and something they can use and engage without getting stuck in a loop.

• Staff put inherent pressure back on me as the designer as they’ll try and game or cheat the system as to the game designer needs to also be the game player. How can I win? So a metric around, for example, Scoring on password resets and try and make sure passwords are wrong to then fix them and win the highest score.

• People behaviour - what’s important to the staff… helping the customer do their job or winning the game? They want to ‘game the game’ but forget the purpose is to keep the customer productive and happy.

• The way you design it has to ultimately align with the intrinsic motivation of the customer and what the company motivations are. Without it, the game system doesn’t drive the right behaviours.

• Not uncommon for those doing this to make the mistakes. Rather than panic and decide not to try it again use the lessons learned. Don’t be discouraged by bad results as it probably comes back to the game design.

• Brings interest and increases the engagement. The team takes the initiative and gets together for a different reason rather than sticking to precise objectives. We have feedback and experience discussions rather than making a game, we’re ramifying something.

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• Certainly in my programs the no.1 objective outside of improving the outcomes is having a framework as ‘not the latest fad’. We did have the right amount of input, not just something management decided.

• Nothing was sacred but not be overly silly outside of being quirky. The right framework for them to understand how their success would be measured, how customer outcomes are valuable to the business and to the customers.

• We did something simple - you don’t have to tick all the boxes. Get something in place they resonate with, the way forward for us and an important mechanism to drive the business and recognise their contribution more than we have in the past.

• In the design, creativeness of the design and smarts behind it, what you’re measuring contributes to KPIs outside the game.

• Be careful in the sense you don’t want too many failures or ‘fail safe’ - evolve it. Pick what is working, turn off what is not working and overall the program is seen as a good vehicle. Never used the term ‘gamification' but lifting capability and around performance management. A fresh approach to achieving better than in the past.

Is it misleading because people associate game with fun and you’re not supposed to be having fun at work?!The term ‘gamification’ itself is misleading whether in introducing the approach or getting buy-in from individuals, teams or management. The way we use words is really important. !• Gamification was a term - I became aware of it as an approach and use it because it’s

understood but the first thing most people tell you - it is a horrible word to use and has many negative connotations.

• Tying it to fun is an important part in gamification strategy because most people when they think about managing people and activity think ‘We need to motivate our people’ and when done well people tap into their intrinsic motivators and it fires them up without having to ‘ride’ your people.

• Not trying to alter their behaviour but tap into something deep, resonate that will call them to act that is beside the normal carrot/stick approach we’ve done historically. Rather than badging, levels and other anaologies that can distract from the doing of getting them engaged and for the organisation and customers.

• In organisations we tend to look at learning and training high value and we don’t always address the short term activities. Task teaching by gamification points in the direction of what will cause them to develop themselves and their activities.

• Changing their view of the world and engaging them more. If the design is wrong the team members directly react. They want to play but hate feeling manipulated. I need to design and present the game and ‘if you want something, you just add the reward and get the reward’ you don’t want to do this. They design by themselves, without any rewards - they wanted to play without reward just to have fun.

• The manipulation part is insidious and the conversation becomes ‘what do I want?’ - it’s communication and our world is shaped like that but they’re going to know and pick up on it and push back if feeling manipulated.

• The dark side of gamification - we don’t purposely set out to manipulate but it will feel that way.• You have to have the discussion - even though it’s not deliberate and certainly not maliciously -

I’m going to mould this person and control them - it’s not like that. • It’s a learning experience - creating an engaging experience, while they work, what they can

learn about it. The experience was about understanding all of our customers are important not just through a particular channel.

• You have to be careful because they’re smart and cluey and if they see any falsehood you lose them. Come up with positive measures like recognise individual customer compliments because it’s a nice measure and they individually created that response the customer felt compelled to write.

• We’re countering the noise of ‘always broken’ so position the positive currency that the account teams have something positive to talk about. The support teams are contributing to the sales cycle. Helping reputation, performance and so on and improves the relationship between the

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teams as well. The effort is seen. The system is in place to measure in a constructive manner rather than observation or telling.

Why do we even need gamification - why do our staff need an incentive? Is it the nature of the Service Desk can be boring, too stressful? !“Call us old fashioned but if a team member needs incentive to provide great service then there’s a good chance they shouldn’t be talking to your customers in the first place.”"!

Greg Ciotti in HelpScout article http://www.helpscout.net/blog/gamification-loyalty/ !• If we’re talking about the Service Desk then gamification doesn’t get them to do things they’re

already doing but use their extra capacity but participate in efforts that are needed but not always seen.

• Example is Knowledge Management - it’s not part of a core job but part of what the organisation wants and needs. Creating a competitive environment outscoring your team mates and it becomes visible gives a ‘I did something that was worth it’. Giving them something to feel special about it. The sense of satisfaction of reaching certain level, milestone or accomplishment. It’s not the badge but recognition in their community of practice.

• Sometimes you inherit people or take on a new student fresh out of university and they have limited exposure to the environment so move them, influence them in the why it’s important. Even if it’s boring - gamification is a ‘chocolate covered broccoli’ because you’re sugar coating over something that is inherently distasteful. You can see benefits in that as well.

• Gamification should solve the problem not be the distraction. If gamification HR on boarding process could happen it would serve my objectives because the staff can share their skills that support will know and then we’re not the only point of supporting but work on collaboration. Example, having a progress bar on did you provide your phone number, provide your skills more exciting than filling out the paper when we join the company. Rather than did you fill in each part of the form creating something more exciting, fun and serves everyone because it reduces calls, works on collaboration with cross-skills. It’s more interesting.

• LinkedIn profile you have the profile bar - how complete is your profile. HR on boarding process can be similar. For example, have you met your IT person yet and progress bar keeps moving and there’s a sense of accomplishment - still doing tasks we want them to do anyway but that visual way is more engaging.

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Please share one or two pieces of advice about the technology to help with this?

Source: Exerpt 2015 Enterprise Gamification Report: ‘In the Gamification Platform Leader Matrix !• Just going to the websites alone of the leaders vs followers/contenders and you can see the

differences as they are more engaging. More than leader boards and badges but building a whole experience around missions and quests.

• I used our ITSM tool so the advice is you don’t need to ask them straight up but can you manipulate it to the point of applying game design as some are more flexible than others. Some ITSM tools do have gamification on their roadmap so check them out as not all of them have this.

• Understand what you want to get out of it. We used a variety of manual reports, ITSM tool, phone systems, email for customer feedback so what ever you need to measure the contribution and design. Do a run through and know what your data sources are going to be otherwise you’ll waste time and money and effort.

• Most important part the staff have got the program in place to support them in manual sense until you’ve matured enough to understand the requirements for a tool.

• Working in IT I always try not to ‘itify’ the processes. We used visual board management and could see quickly if we were achieving. Bringing your idea physically to the board.

• The psychology of the physicality - hold something and bring it to the central area is a powerful image.

• An interesting observation of the leader matrix (eg. Badgeville). People are talking about this and bringing them on outside of IT. So IT is not having the conversation - the business is looking to bring the power of gamification to what they’re doing. They’re not concerned about legacy systems and data sources but looking at what metrics, systems and rewards can be used to recognise people. As IT - what are the routine tasks we performe and the tasks we’re trying to recognise that people can do a more complete or better job at and look at where we can extract

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these metrics organically. Not finding something new but use it as the basis for why we would make a specific reward.

• Talk to your call centres what they’re doing with gaming, also sales and marketing department - they’re already looking at gaming approaches as part of sales incentives and how they’re using it to engage and help manage the behaviours and relationships with their external customers. If IT is part of the organisation then talk to those areas and ask the question - what are doing with gamifiation and design? From a stakeholder perspective and buy-in you may get more support for your project - perhaps IT is part of their overall process of an outcome. Maybe your game becomes a sub-level or module of theirs. !

Resources

The Gamification Implementation Chart by Ozma

!Like a Visual Management board, this style or blank map is a great way to have a discussion with your team and other departments in your organisation in the design and achievement of your gamification objectives.!!• All the elements are there in building up the project of what you’re looking for. The part that

stood out is around the game mechanics and rules and how I might break them. I’d spend effort there. It’s not a one person process and say ‘team go’ but work through together as a collective.!

• I thought it was quite good and parts I hadn’t considered. The most important thing on the roles, actions has to be a contribution from the people who are going to live and breathe it. Our role is to make sure it links to our outcomes, outline the principles and themes and give people the

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made by † ozmaPlayer type chart by Richard Bartle, adapted by Ozma www.ozma.se BY NC SA

freedom to work out how it will work best. The top right hand box on meaningful choices is most important.!

• It shows that gamification is not a project but a process. You are not making a game, about competition but you have to know your audience and players. The maintenance and management of the process is the same if you were doing a kick-starter project but not animating it so it must be animated.!

• Stands out for me is the upper left - the goal of gamification. The quality and quantitative factors of the organisations we’re trying to satisfy. By the time you get over to the mechanics there are lots of choices to how you set the game up. The game mechanics have to be congruent with the goal of gamification. If we start of with 500 more toasters sold in this quarter then we might be amiming to narrow on the target and allow more space for people to find their place in the game and might be beyond their existing job role where they’ll kick in at a different level.!

• I’m more a visual person and like the hand drawing style - it breaks the psychology of being boxed in.

Gamification Model Canvas by GameOnLab!

!• This model has a sense of orderliness that comes form IT. I like the word Canvas. It still contains

the previous information but in a different format and using different wording and appeals to different companies working this way (eg. Costs/Revenues as a strategic point).!

• I see this targeted at managing up and take the creative approach with the guys at the operational level and convert to the story you’re going to sell it to. I’m more comfortable with this canvas than the free form but that would restrict the creativity of the people. The previous design gives a sense of freedom.!

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• I can see the use of the free-form style as the teams developing it and transferring the info into the Canvas to be used with the executives.!

• We’re the mediators between the two canvasses. This one is so IT, accountant, management has it written over it like tick the boxes. In the design stage let the creative people shine so not be boxed in and we as the mediators put those results into the canvas format would be a language managing up - they feel more comfortable.!

• It’s the business case and shows the preferred cost, revenue and data and preparation with a conclusion to put your case to the CFO.!

• This is similar structure to the Business Model Canvas. You can use it as a design tool from what you know into what you don’t know. Given the previous model and this one - I’d be tempted to use the previous to rough out the idea and then use the Canvas as a diagnostic tool. What boxes light up, which don’t or if you’re stuck on a particular area. What are some components I have thought about before. Good interplay between the two.!!

Final Advice Cyril Metral!• Try it - start it and you’ll see. Design it with your team. !!John Schumacher!• Make it about your people. Make it feel as it’s an investment in them - that their contributions

recognised. Make the measures meaningful with some nice ones in there to promote above and beyond normal levels. Builds for a bigger and broader reputation and credibility that your staff know they’ve built that profile!!

Chris Haspell!• Make sure you’ve got immediate feedback. A shared experience is better than competition. Make

if fun from a good design not for fun’s sake. Every team is different so use the dynamics of your own team.!!

Ken Gonzales!• Don’t start with tools first. Start simple - whiteboards, flip charts, stickies, things that fall off.

Especially in your early design stages, have something not committing lots of effort to stand up. Want it flexible with agile not concrete.!

• Don’t confuse somebody’s obligation to work with their desire to be a player. Yes we know to work to get the pay cheque but not everyone has to participate. Design so they want to play - when you do that and there’s a buzz about people participating, not just the data, then you know it’s working.!!

Simone Moore!• When something feels dead this is when it’s time for something new and an opportunity opening

up and ready to be approached in a new way. Definitely have a look at these new approaches.!!!

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Source Material !• Canvas Models"

- www.ozma.se/download/Gamification_Chart.pdf "

- http://www.gameonlab.com/canvas/ "

• With Ken Gonzales: ITSMF Sweden Webpanel on simulation games - https://youtu.be/UsxIBIT03bc "

• You ain’t seen nothing yet: enterprise gamification in 2015 - http://www.gameffective.com/gamification-basics/you-aint-seen-nothing-yet-enterprise-gamification-in-2015/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_content=Oktopost-linkedin-group&utm_campaign=Oktopost-report"

• New White Paper: How to Use Gamification for Customer Service - http://www.gameffective.com/customer-service/new-white-paper-how-to-use-gamification-for-customer-service/

• http://www.gameffective.com/blog/ and specifically http://www.gameffective.com/gamification-how-tos/gamification-analytics-matter-a-lot-more-than-roi-or-kpis/

• 6 Things you need to know about gamification - http://www.conferenceinabox.io/itsm/6-things-need-know-gamification/

• Barclay Rae always has some interesting things to say: http://resources.freshservice.com/gamifying-your-service-desk.html

• http://freshservice.com/resources/ some interesting videos here including http://freshservice.com/it-service-desk-gamification

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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