Corporate Gaming Is Good For Business

The Economist is running a story about how gaming is on the rise in corporate environments, and how games are also becoming a popular tool for advertising. From internally developed games to commercial offerings to simply creating a framework in which employees can interact, game-based competitions and community building are leading to increased productivity, even for Fortune 500 companies. Quoting: "Take Microsoft's own experience. Before it releases a new version of its Windows operating system, it asks staff to help debug the software by installing and running the system. In the past, project managers had to spend a great deal of time and effort persuading busy Microsoftees to help them with this boring task. So for Windows Vista, the system's latest incarnation, Microsoft created a game that awarded points for bug-testing and prizes such as wristbands for achieving certain goals. Participation quadrupled."

Comments

Awarding points?

[billlava]

Awarding points for participation is rarely the most effective way to get people involved. Modded +5 insightful

Re:Awarding points?

[jellomizer]

Just like Slashdot what will happen is people will do what it will take to get the points. So say you got a point for each bug found. You find one bug, assume this bug is called from multiple spots. Call this bug on each spot and report it for every occurrence and rack up points. Vs. saying it is just one bug.

The same thing happens on Slashdot, if you want the points then you better make sure your post is Pro-Linux and GPL. Trying to show that Windows may be better in some circumstances or the GPL as many flaws and in some ways it contradicts its core values will not lead to points. Thus discouraged and reducing objectivity in an open forum.

Results?

[Cyner]

Participation may have quadrupled, but what about productivity or tangible results?

Re:G.O.O.D Job

[bigstrat2003]

Agreed. I've never understood when companies try to play stupid morale games with their employees, rather than doing the obvious things. Pay them more, make their job more interesting to them, make sure their boss isn't a jerk. If my company started trying to play morale games with me, I'd just feel insulted, not uplifted.

Re:Makes a lot of sense

[SatanicPuppy]

What they're talking about is that it is more productive to present some boring task in game form than it is to just require people to do it.

A spoon full of sugar does indeed make the medicine go down...It's about time corporations clued in to this basic facet of human existence. Work is work, and play is play, and if work can be a little like play, people will work more.

Re:Makes a lot of sense

[MouseR]

It did marvels for Vista indeed.

Re:QA

[SatanicPuppy]

There is a difference between a "bug" and a poor design decision. For a Windows release, Vista isn't all that buggy, it's just user-hostile. You certainly can't blame them for the driver issues that caused most of the bugs early on.

Re:Makes a lot of sense

[blueZ3]

Yeah, I'm wondering if those "bracelets" were the shiny metal kind that take keys... and that's how they kept Vista testers at it. I can't imagine any other way to get people to actually use it :-)