In Part 2 of my interview of Karl Kapp, I ask this question: ” In the most successful companies, three of their defining characteristucs are are often referred to as “The Three Cs” thrive: Communication, Cooperation, and — of greater importance — Collaboration. How can the strategies and methods of gamification help to strengthen all three, especially in smaller organizations with limited resources?”
Here is Karl’s response:
“One issue to keep in mind is that gamification is really about engagement. People engage with games for many reasons and they engage at work for many reasons. The strategies and methods of gamification should really be thought of as the strategies and methods of engagement. In that sense, engagement with others is about communication so, using a gamification technique, like rewarding those who provide high quality comments and insightful thoughts can be an element of gamification. And people working together can be thought of as gamification but really, successful organizations engage customers and employees and lots of techniques like recognition and timely constructive feedback can foster engagement within organizations the same way they do in games. With one caveat, the engagement strategy within the organization needs to be genuine. You can’t add artificial elements like points, badges and leaderboards with no real substance behind them and expect to achieve success. If one predicates his or her business on a “gamified” approach with employees, fear for that company and don’t walk away from it…run.”
Karl is the lead author of two books that I highly recommend:
Karl M. Kapp, Ed.D., CFPIM, CIRM, is a scholar, writer and expert on the convergence of learning, technology and business operations. He is a graduate professor of instructional technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA. where he teaches courses in instructional game design and gamification and is the Director of the acclaimed Institute for Interactive Technologies. He is author of six books on the convergence of learning and technology and has authored courses for Lynda.com.
To learn more about Karl and his work, please click here.
You may also wish to check out his two-part interview:
Part 1 is now available by clicking here.
And Part 2 here.