Gamification is a new term in the corporate world, and its popularity began in 2010. But what is it exactly? Simply put, it means the application of game-like components to a business strategy or process. The purpose? To improve engagement among the people in an organization, or promote corporate communication. Put the spotlight on, have you ever thought about integrating gamification and digital signage together to optimize your workplace?
Truth is, the concept seemed unrealistic during the initial stages. But according to a 2019 survey done by TalentLMS, this is a strategy that could deliver results. The findings indicated that 79% of participants concurred that they would feel more motivated; hence, productive when learning in a game-like environment.
Today, a significant number of businesses have implemented gamification in their business processes. They’ve discovered that this strategy brings forth plenty of benefits, including improving internal communication.
Importance of Gamification & Digital Signage in workplace
Like most business strategies, gamification also requires you to implement several tactics for it to be effective. In the workplace environment, you can mark gamification progress and behavior through:
- Badges
- Points
- Levels
- Progress bars
- A type of virtual currency
- Leaderboards
- Virtual and real-world teammates
A great example of a company that used gamification to achieve success is Fitbit, a company based in San Francisco. The company makes wearable activity tracking devices, which measure the steps a person climbs, quality of sleep, and the steps you take, among others. Their devices measure the metrics associated with physical fitness and health.
The company came up with a series of tasks for customers to complete, after which they get rewarded. This strategy saw the company sell 55 million fitness trackers in 2016, and the company intends to reach up to 105 million units every year by 2022.
Fitbit lets consumers create groups and join teams, whereby they can compete with each other. And all the rewards given are virtual. Just like that, it has become a company culture.
However, for gamification to become a success, businesses need tools to display the game-like features. And that’s where digital signage comes in.
Top Benefits of Gamification & Digital Signage in workplace
Basically, digital signage promotes corporate communication. How so? It provides you with visually engaging ways that you wouldn’t visualize by yourself. However, this strategy also requires clever tactics for it to become a success.
Here’s what gamification relies on.
1. Motivation
For gamification to become successful, it requires motivation. Why’s that? Well, to influence behavior. The internal motivators like the feeling of accomplishment and external motivators like points have to balance.
Digital signage media players are the best way to boost motivation. How so? By visually displaying public leaderboards that show progress. That way, employees are motivated to work harder.
2. Meaning
Additionally, gamification will achieve the desired results if the rewards given have meaning. Yes. Points and badges may be enough for some, but to others, they might be insignificant. So, what the solution? Ensuring the rewards make sense in the real world through incentives such as bonuses. That way, employees get motivated.
Here, you can use digital signage media players to display the value of the rewards given. Moreover, you can use the visual representation to give regular updates. You can use graphs or charts to show the bonuses that have been distributed.
3. Momentum
In-game systems must also keep the employees engaged. Users want to feel that the difficulty of every task matches up to the reward given. Otherwise, they may become disinterested.
However, if you use visual representations, then you can get the employees’ attention by showing them that the challenges are progressing. The signage should show how the goals are broken down, and the public leaderboard must be regularly updated.
Who uses gamification?
Truth is, gamification is now part of company culture. The strategy is being used all over, including government agencies, schools, tech, and IT companies, among other sectors. Marketers have discovered that gamification is ideal for corporate branding, which later helps businesses retain their customers. Moreover, businesses have discovered that this strategy promotes internal communication.
In fact, according to a study conducted by Gartner, the findings indicated that companies that implement gamification have a 250% more growth compared to those that don’t.
Top Uses of Gamification & Digital Signage in workplace
When it comes to gamification, businesses have to make sure that their digital signage systems deliver the expected results. The digital signs have to be influential enough to users. Here’s how to achieve that.
1. Make sure information is as visual as possible
Frankly, visual representations stand a better chance of influencing users compared to plain text. Therefore, a business has to use visuals to display the most important pieces of information. Charts and graphs do a great job. Besides, they make it easier to understand information.
2. Visual progress
Additionally, digital screens are a great way to show goal progress. That is why you find charities displaying donation progress using pie charts and graphs. By doing so, they make sure to encourage people to push towards the set goal until it is accomplished.
However, a business has to make sure the visual representation is in sync with the database. Why? To make sure they only provide factual and accurate information.
3. Gamification and digital signage: display current trends
To achieve success using digital signs, a business has to present the current trends on digital screens. It helps to compare progress within the organization to tell you what is trending positively. Moreover, it is an excellent way to show businesses how they stack up against those in the same industry.
4. Raise the stakes by creating actual competitions
You can use gamification to pit employees and departments against each other. However, the sole purpose is to motivate them to deliver results. You can achieve that by creating actual competitions in the workplace.
Use digital screens to display the progress of each team or individual. And you have to ensure that the leaderboard is displayed publicly. That way, different teams will see where they stand, while, those in the lower ranks will strive harder to beat those ahead.
You must also make sure to motivate them by giving rewards. The users can get badges, points, and even real-world prizes such as game tickets or gift cards.
5. Celebrate success
Most importantly, you have to celebrate success. When an employee or team members win a competition, make sure to display their win on all the screens. The public recognition will motivate them, and it will also encourage participation.
6. Get the employees to promote your products
This is a strategy called dogfooding. And it is very effective in gamification and digital signage. Basically, you can reward employees who promote your products with points. You should make the points in such a manner that your staff can redeem them in the real-world to get things such as free vouchers or lunches.
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