"Gamify Your Work" Roundtable at MARCOM 2013

For the culmination of our 2013 partnership with the MARCOM forum, I had the opportunity last week to host a Peer2Peer Roundtable entitled “Gamify Your Work”. 

The topic attracted a wonderfully diverse group, including participants from non-profits, government departments, marketing agencies and consultancies. We had a very rich discussion regarding the concept of gamification and how it might be applied to our very different work environments. 

For those not familiar with the concept, “gamification” is the application of game elements to professional tasks and situations — elements such as rules, achievements levels, and rewards. With video games now a huge part of our culture, like it or not, an increasing number of businesses have used gamification to increase employee effectiveness and bridge generational gaps. 

Through our discussion, we agreed that to successfully start applying gamification in a work context, organizations should initially apply game elements to a relatively small, specific project over a finite time-period. This will make the initiative easier to implement, more likely to succeed, and easier to evaluate. Managers can learn from and build on the experience, and make gamification even more effective in future incarnations. 

During the roundtable, we also reviewed other creativity tools and concepts for the workplace, and talked about the benefits of fostering creativity for both employers and employees. Many of these concepts were covered in our Creative Spark series of articles. If you haven't already read them, please do! There are links below. 

In conclusion, I would like to thank Claire Mills and CEPSM, who produced the MARCOM 2013 Forum. The Banfield-Seguin team loves working with them on the creative theme every year, and this year we really took our collaboration with MARCOM to the next level.

Creative Spark Series articles:
The Benefits of Creative Work Cultures
Making the Most of Your Team’s Unique Creative Abilities
What Highly Creative Workplaces Can Teach You
Tools and Techniques to Unlock Workplace Creativity
Working with Creative Agencies