Gamification is the new internet marketing trend. We play like adults: how gamification in business increases sales

Surely, many employers wondered: “How to motivate employees if the work has become a routine and the standard options no longer work?”. There are two options here: either leave everything as it is, or try new options for interacting with subordinates.

IN Lately As a lifeline, the option of using gamification in workflows has become more and more often considered. According to experts, the elements of the game help to improve the performance and quality of work of employees, but you should not overdo it otherwise the “pluses” can turn into “minuses”.

Gamification in Workflows: A Motivation Tool for Employees?

Sooner or later, there comes a moment when the work begins to resemble a routine, the performance of the same duties bothers, but they have to be fulfilled, since there are no better prospects on the horizon. No matter how hard the employer tries to motivate the “unstuck” employees, nothing happens: the work is done mediocre, without a twinkle. What can you do? Either everything remains in its place, or there is a search for a possible way out of the current situation and a reassessment of values, approaches to work. It is for such a critical point that the option with gamification of workflows is suitable.

By itself, the concept of "gamification" (or gamification) means the application of approaches specific to computer games in software tools for non-gaming processes of the company in order to increase labor productivity, employee involvement in solving work tasks. According to a study by the Research Center management company"Empire Kadrov", 97% of employers in the Russian labor market have come across this term. At the same time, it should be noted that 52% of them are familiar with the essence of the concept, and 35% use this method in their work.

Now from words to practice. 87% of company representatives are sure that workflow gamification can serve as an effective method of staff motivation. And 81% believe that the presence of elements of the game in the workplace contributes to the productivity and quality of work of employees. But is it really so?

“Like any business, the implementation of gamification can be done well, or it can be done somehow. There have been cases when the introduction of ERP-systems brought the company to bankruptcy. But if gamification is built correctly, then the effect is purely positive,” comments Denis Kaminsky, partner at FutureToday. “If the system (incentive model) is focused on productivity growth, then productivity grows, if on quality growth, then quality grows, if on both, then both.”

“In my opinion, a subjective opinion on this matter has no power, only facts have power. The use of gamification by our clients and many other companies that are embarking on this path on their own confirm that properly applied gamification can significantly increase labor productivity and other metrics of staff work,” emphasizes Evgeniya Lyubko, Gingerbread Project Development Director. — For example, thanks to the practice of applying various ratings, the company Interior Lavka achieved a 400% increase in KPI. I would also like to highlight the experience of the Kazakh Entrepreneurship Development Fund “Damu”. With the help of gamified “floating”, this state-owned company achieved a 3.5-fold increase in KPI (!).”

“Judging by our company and the companies of my colleagues working in the fashion retail segment, gamification has become an integral tool not only to improve the quality of work of employees, but also a means of optimizing business processes. To give just one example, at the beginning of the year we launched the motivational game “ best service our customers”, which was attended by employees of more than 160 stores. The essence of the game is that employees, collecting information about the best world practices in the field of service (we have the opportunity to exchange information with employees from other countries of the world) and applying this in their daily work, play a kind of quest. Every month, employees of one of the European or Asian representative offices of our company hold remote master classes, where they share their technologies and standards in the field of working with customers. Our employees take the best they can from our market and implement these principles and technologies into their daily work. Thus, we planned to make this year's "main focus" on quality work employees with clients and, in general, a significant improvement in the quality of work,” says Alexey Averyanov, HR Director of Ecco Shoes, a member of the Labor Market Experts non-profit partnership. - As a result, we got great amount excellent proposals for improving customer service standards, proposals for improving business processes and recruitment, which ultimately led to a serious increase in sales. Although the game is still in full swing (the game is designed for 12 months, where every month employees get acquainted with the experience of working in other representative offices ... for example, in September we introduced the experience of colleagues from Japan, and in October from the UK), we can already say that that the program far exceeded our expectations. Such "fun", "emotional drive", according to our employees, they have not experienced for a long time, and the company received high external loyalty, involvement and excellent business indicators for the first half of the year. This is just a small example, although we use similar principles not only in working with clients, but also in all processes of corporate culture development (selection and adaptation, training, etc.). It can be said that over the past 1-2 years, gamification has become “ calling card» for the HR department of our company. Of course, this would not have been possible if there was not a noticeable increase in confirmed business indicators (we even had to revise KPI upwards for most positions).”

Gamification in workflows: companies that play games...

Specific examples show that the use of game elements in workflows brings good fruit. But far from all companies are reaping: the practice of using gamification on Russian market labor is not so widespread. As noted earlier, only a third of companies (35%) have experience in this area. However, the "coverage zone" can be somewhat expanded due to statistics on employers' plans for the near future. Thus, when discussing plans for introducing gamification within the framework of the mentioned study, 16% of respondents admitted that they already use this method in the company, and 10% said that they had developed all necessary materials and the matter remains for the small - for their implementation. Another 36% reported that they plan to use gamification in their work in the future, but have not thought about it in detail yet.

But is gamification suitable for all companies, regardless of their field of activity? According to the surveyed employers, the introduction of game mechanisms will be relevant for retail trade (24%); FMCG (19%); IT/telecom (18%); finance, media, consulting, industrial equipment (3% each). But 27% thought that the use of gamification can be relevant for any company and the success of technology implementation does not depend on the industry of the enterprise. However, they add that the implementation itself is directly dependent on the internal culture of the organization.

Experts believe that gamification is a recent trend and its popularity in the Russian market is just beginning to gain momentum. “Gamification is definitely a trend, especially for big brands. The main customers of the programs are IT corporations, banks, and the advertising sector. At the same time, the share of companies using gamification is still generally small. Not everyone can apply to themselves, implement, train managers, etc. The market has potential as traditional approaches become obsolete. The effectiveness of learning always depends directly on emotional involvement, so the influence of traditional seminars, webinars and other familiar forms is gradually fading away. Due to the emotional element, the gamification method shows a good result: people are interested in new things, they are more willing to get involved in the process,” says Anna Chukseeva, head of public relations at the Job.ru Internet resource.

“So far, the practice of using gamification in our country is not widespread. There is high interest, but also big doubts. The market is in the accumulation stage evidence base and each new case opens the door to gamification for new companies,” says Evgeniya Lyubko.

“The practice is not yet very common, but is gaining momentum. Most of all, it is common in office activities, in production, in construction, in science - much less so, ”says Denis Kaminsky.

However, if we focus on indicators for individual industries, then the degree of “penetration” of game elements into the workflow of companies can be significant compared to the situation on the market as a whole. “The use of gamification is a fairly common practice. I believe that about 50% of Russian companies use certain elements. Traditionally, this practice is more pronounced in the FMCG segment, digital and fashion retail, as well as in IT companies. This is primarily due to the fact that average age employees tend to be younger than employees at manufacturing enterprises, although recently “bright” elements of gamification have appeared at enterprises,” Aleksey Averyanov suggests.

“In the oil and gas industry, the practice of gamification is in demand and is used for top management and key personnel,” says Nadezhda Kulygina, head of the department for organizing and motivating work at Enter Engineering.

Gamification in Workflows: Play Can't Be Worked

The process of penetration of gamification into the masses is slowed down by stop factors - fears and fears that employers have when they get acquainted with this motivation tool. In the course of a study by the Research Center of the Imperia Kadrov management company, it turned out that many representatives of organizations (42%) see the main drawback of gamification in its complexity and believe that most firms will not be able to cope with it correctly. practical application. 18% are inclined to believe that turning work into a game can cause employees to protest and criticize management. 13% are sure that gamification in reality gives only a short-term increase in work, and 8% believe that it quickly gets boring and “boring”. Only 8% of employers talk about the high cost of gamification. Another 3% believe that the introduction of game elements in work processes can give rise to strong competition between employees and on this basis conflicts will arise in the team.

But, as they say, everything is known in comparison. These negative beliefs of the survey respondents can be diluted by the fact that only 3% of respondents who have had an unsuccessful experience in mastering gamification refuse to further implement it in their work processes. So, not everything is so bad: the more practical knowledge and experience accumulates in using this tool, the more likely it is to prepare for “tense sections” and bypass weaknesses.

According to experts, a balanced approach and proper prioritization will help to solve a problem with problematic moments. “Unfortunately, there are drawbacks to gamification. In my opinion, the most important drawback that I had to face is the increase in conflict in the team. People take the results of the game too seriously, get offended, try to “revenge” the competitor. Another drawback is that not all employees are ready to join the game, becoming bystanders, laughing at the rest. We were able to seriously “smooth out” such effects when we began to independently develop programs (taking into account the wishes of our employees and good internal communication) and, most importantly, launch several different programs at the same time (with a clear and understandable evaluation and reward system) so that people can choose for themselves the most relevant and interesting programs,” Alexey Averyanov shares his experience. — This step allowed us to involve people who used to be skeptical about many innovations. The best reward for us is when employees say that our company is “so interesting and exciting to work with”. And there are more and more such reviews, which means that we will continue to improve the techniques and tools of gamification.”

“Any system gives rise to the desire to break it, to bypass it. Here, as elsewhere, the rule “what is measured is done” is true. And if you can achieve the desired indicator in a simpler way, then there is a high probability of erroneous motivation. For example, in one call center, bonuses were paid for a successfully received call, and a call was considered successfully received, during which both parties said something and which lasted at least 3 seconds. As a result, it turned out that one of the most successful managers simply picked up the phone, said “Good afternoon, how can I help you?”, listened to the answer and hung up. According to statistics, he had a lot of answered calls,” Denis Kaminsky gives an example.

“I believe that one of the significant drawbacks when using gamification is the wrong choice of tools for tasks. For example, rating programmers by the number of closed tasks can cause a revolution in the company, while in the sales department a similar tool will lead to a significant increase in turnover,” Evgeniya Lyubko compares.

“The practice itself is not always positively perceived by top management, while I did not notice any shortcomings affecting the staff. On the contrary, as a rule, the employees who took part in the event begin to understand each other better,” notes Nadezhda Kulygina.

Gamification in workflows: the games companies are playing...

Now let's move from the "cons" to the "pluses". Many interviewed employers agree that gamification increases productivity if it affects certain employee incentives. But already at the stage of choosing specific incentives, the points of view of company leaders diverge. So, 73% suggest using an incentive for development and achievement (an internal incentive for progress, developing skills and overcoming obstacles), 52% - an incentive for developing creativity and feedback (an employee sees the results of his own creativity and receives feedback on her), 42% - an incentive for social recognition and involvement (the result is achieved due to the desire of a specialist to achieve the same level, and then surpass colleagues), 18% - an incentive for curiosity and unpredictability (the desire to understand what is really happening) , 9% - the incentive of possession and ownership (the desire to have something), 3% - the incentive of epic value and vocation (when the employee believes that he was chosen for a specific mission).

The stimulus of influence is a kind of key that helps to achieve the intended goal. However, sometimes the knowledge that it exists is not enough to open the desired lock, an understanding of the mechanism of work and the procedure is required. The mechanism in this case is the version of the game in which the employees of the company participate. Here it is important not to make a mistake with the option, otherwise the desired result will remain only in the plans. Experts advise to pay attention to those games that effectively solved the tasks.

“There is a set of tools for every task. Sales and any other objectively measurable indicators are perfectly driven by competitions (ratings), and this tool works especially well if it is not just a rating drawn on a board, but also a vivid game metaphor (as in the case of the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund). Popularization of mentoring, referral programs, participation in various projects are well catalyzed by badges. A virtual currency can either directly affect productivity, provided that the gaming “economy” is built correctly, or it can form a friendly atmosphere of support and cooperation in the company, reduce the number of conflicts, unite people if used as a means of mutual encouragement (peer-2-peer recognition). I'm not talking about the possibilities of combining different tools. :) The main rule here is that there is no universal solution. But there is a rich and fairly simple toolkit that, when correct application gives impressive results,” notes Evgeniya Lyubko.

“There is a huge variety of game options. Most often, these are competitions in certain parameters (business indicators and compliance with company values) and earning points and “badges”, which are then exchanged for some interesting benefits, for example, the ability to come to work 1 hour later or leave earlier on Friday, if the employee scored a certain number of points. One of the values ​​of our company is innovation. We are always trying to improve our processes, make them perfect, as well as convenient and simple. The Funnel project, which was launched in the company, is aimed at increasing the proactivity and innovation of our employees. Any employee can suggest an idea or improvement in the processes, which, in his opinion, will have a positive impact on the efficiency and quality of work. These "ideas" are posted on the corporate portal, and if the idea gains a certain number of "likes", the employee receives an "Einstein" badge and 100 points, which he can spend at his discretion in the company's cafeteria or exchange for 1 day off, as well as in another way, for example, a trip home / from home in a corporate car with a driver, i.e. all possible options provided for by our Motivation Policy (there are more than 500 such options, everyone can choose what he “likes”),” says Alexey Averyanov. — One of the recent proposals is to organize workshops for free individual “fitting” of shoes in our stores. outlets. It's no secret that our customers have their own individual wishes for shoes, and now, by implementing this proposal, we can meet the most demanding requests free of charge. Another pride of ours is a quest game after training for beginners. Employees who have completed the training course work in their retail outlets, but at the same time they complete tasks based on the results of the training within 1 month. Territorial managers check the development of skills, evaluate the work with clients, sum up the results and the winners of the game receive an excellent prize. I can say that engaging employees in learning through play is the fastest and most effective way to learn.”

“In my practice, we implemented games aimed at developing staff communication skills, the ability to give feedback and ask the right questions. Among them were: a) team games where you need to do something as a team: build a tower from improvised materials, write a poem in a certain amount of time on a given topic or with certain words, develop a business plan or a presentation of a virtual project in a certain time, and others options; b) games where an employee must join an existing team, for example, pass an interview in a virtual project, Nadezhda Kulygina lists. “It is very important, in my opinion, not only to organize an event, to hold it, but also to get feedback from the participants, to hear the opinion of colleagues about the event.”

“The Achievement game mechanic works best, similar to the Soviet honor roll. Public selection of a person always gives a result, ”Denis Kaminsky insists.

The positive experience of participating in collective games within the office / production space can bring a breath of fresh air into the existing workflow, which can diversify the usual course of affairs, add new ideas and stir up the professional potential of employees. If game elements bring novelty to the working atmosphere, give impetus and drive for new professional achievements, then it’s a sin not to take advantage of this. The most important thing is not to overdo it and direct the energy that has appeared in a peaceful direction. ;)

My first boss once shared with me a wise thought that I follow to this day: “Treat work like a game. And you never have to complain about hard work." Today, this thesis is slowly but surely acquiring a global scale and is called "gamification".

It has long been known that children learn science best through play. But childhood ends at some point, and with it the game, and it becomes difficult, difficult and far from always interesting. Leisure and work, play and work, interest and work - how often do we contrast these concepts, while they do not necessarily have to be opposed. Generation Y, which has already been discussed in previous articles Generation Y: Managing with many unknowns and Motivation 2.0, brings a new trend to modern business, which consists in the use of game elements in non-game processes - gamification.

Main characteristics of gamification:

• Dynamics - the use of game scenarios that involve users in the process of quickly responding to events;
• Mechanics - the use of common game scenario elements, such as virtual rewards, statuses, points, virtual goods;
• Aesthetics - creating a general gaming impression, a bright emotional atmosphere;
• Social interaction - the use of techniques that provide active inter-user interaction.

Gamification began to penetrate into business through marketing and today it penetrates into managerial functions, corporate culture and work with personnel: task managers use humor in interfaces, denoting, for example, the “delegate” function as “translate arrows”, and providing the ability to assign comic rewards for task completion; corporate portals are gaining features social networks; recruiting uses game scenarios to attract staff.

A charming example of gamification in recruiting is the hh.ru flash toy in which you need to design your own workplace, and based on the results, get a recommendation in which department of the company it is better for the player to work. Entrance questions for applicants from Yandex and Google companies are much more like entertaining puzzles than template “tell us about yourself”. Motivational processes and corporate culture have long been affected by gamification, but at the level of an individual decision of each individual company: internal competitions, titles a la “best employee”, etc. Probably, in the near future we should expect replicated solutions from the market that would allow managing motivation and corporate culture, as job sites and HRMS (automated management systems) allow you to manage recruiting and personnel records management by human resourses). From systems that automate KDP, we are moving towards systems that automate talent management. Gartner, in its April 2011 study, reports that by 2015, more than 50% of companies that manage innovation processes will gamify those processes. Consequently, those who have nothing to do with innovation will also follow them, because in business, as in Carroll’s Alice, “you have to run to stay in place, but to get somewhere, you have to run twice as fast.”

Examples of gamification
Accelerating KPI with hedgehogs

The Ukrainian company "Interpipe" uses the game currency "hedgehogs", which an employee can earn for completing tasks from the "price list of useful deeds": for submitting and implementing ideas, fulfilling and overfulfilling norms and plans, and other activities directly related to the production process . Earned "hedgehogs" can be spent on material gifts - certificates for cosmetics, equipment, gasoline, or even publishing your collection of poems or holding a solo exhibition. Those. in fact, “hedgehogs” are a small (really small in terms of money) additional bonus, but not in real money, but in play money. But an equivalent premium in real money would never have given such an increase in efficiency as the “hedgehogs” did: the number of activities present in the “price list” increased by 20-50% compared to the “pre-game” period. At the same time, employees never asked if they could simply exchange "hedgehogs" for hryvnias, but the opposite questions - about buying additional "hedgehogs" - were repeatedly raised.
Interview with Anastasia Yalova, Head of the Chasing Hedgehogs project

Place your bets!

The network of car services was puzzled by the increase in its own sales and resorted to the rating of sellers - by the percentage of the monthly plan completed. Seeing this rating for the first time, sellers noticeably perked up, realizing themselves in society and in the context of other people's achievements, and not just their own plan, which in itself spurred activity. But super-efficient gamification was invented - quite by accident - by one of my colleagues, who offered to bet on sellers, voting with a ruble for those who should have become “No. 1” at the end of the month. What happened: those who bet the money began to push their sellers in the style of “quit smoking, go call, you still have a lot to complete the plan, and I bet 50 bucks on you.” During the game, sales increased by 20%. Applause.

Sales record

IN production company introduced a challenge badge "Record holder of sales" - for the conclusion of the most expensive transaction of the year. The amount indicated in the badge brought the sellers to extreme surprise - it turned out to be several times higher than their personal plans. The amount of one transaction. Several times higher than the monthly plan. Horizons have been pushed apart - steel sellers are no longer striving to fulfill the plan, but to set a new record. And within six months, the "Record holder of sales" changed its owner several times - the sellers began to set more and more new records.

What is gamification in business, why is it needed, experts said. The article contains the pros and cons of introducing gamification, tips from HR practitioners and examples. Having studied the recommendations, you can avoid common mistakes.

From the article you will learn:

What is gamification in business

Gamification in business involves the development and implementation of game elements in workflows. It is used to train employees, instill corporate norms in them, rally the team, etc.

Gamification is somewhat different from business games, brainstorming and cases in that it includes additional elements: ratings, awards, badges and much more.

★Introducing gamification in a company, you can create themed locations right in the office. This approach and a special interior attracts the attention of not only employees, but also customers. Experts from HR Director magazine will tell you how to turn a serious work task into a game.

Using gamification in business, make the symbols and signs of success attractive to employees. Make a process awards public, and the awards that the winners receive are significant in their career. If you give them out just for show, the staff will quickly lose interest in innovations and stop showing initiative.

Why implement gamification in business

Gamification is ideal for companies with a young and dynamically developing team, ready to learn everything new and interesting. In some cases, the game is negatively perceived by staff, applicants, especially when older employees work in the organization. Before you design and implement gamification, think about what tasks and how you can perform with it.

6 tasks that gamification solves

Task number 1. Career guidance for students - we attract talented young people to the company

If the company often needs new staff, develop tests, questionnaires that you send out to graduates educational institutions. Also organize field events, hold games, involve young people in solving cases, etc. Some will realize that they want to work in your company, and after training or an internship, you will be able to employ them.

Task number 2. We save on recruitment

If you want to use game elements in the selection of personnel, choose games, tests that reflect the essence corporate culture. While conducting quests or evaluating test results, you will be able to weed out unsuitable applicants who will probably not appreciate the company's traditions.

★Gamification at the selection stage has long been used by foreign and Russian companies. We do not recommend copying someone else's experience. Be sure to adapt it to the specifics of the company and the characteristics of our country.

For example, Sberbank actively uses the Bank Management Olympiad called “Battle of the Banks”. Computer game completely imitates the work of departments. Students can evaluate the possibilities, make the final decision when choosing a profession. This is how promising graduates end up at Sberbank.

Task number 3. We adapt staff without formalities

The adaptation of personnel, the process of getting to know the team and responsibilities is quick and painless when the organization provides for a minimum of formalities. Embed game elements in everyday life team, because it is they who improve the psychological climate, make it clear the subtleties of work. Information in an accessible form is easier to digest and remember.

Task number 4. Motivate employees with gamification

Motivational programs, which are based on the game, provide new opportunities for leaders. You can get away from the usual cash bonuses. As an option - to award points to leaders, which they can accumulate and exchange for bonuses, gifts, and other bonuses. In some companies, an employee who has scored a certain number of points may receive an increase in salary.

Advantages and disadvantages of gamification in business

The introduction of gamification in personnel management has both pros and cons. Far from every company game elements are used, so before you start developing them, weigh the pros and cons.

1. Evaluate the company's financial capabilities

If the budget allows, use not only classic games, but also computer, developed by specialists, taking into account the specifics of the organization, corporate culture.

1. Do not turn the company premises into a "game room"

Keep in mind that an excessive amount of scenery, locations distracts from work, causes misunderstanding among customers. Everything should be in moderation.

1. Do not force employees to participate in all activities

If you force employees to participate in games, there will be more harm from gamification in business. People will begin to withdraw, to experience a feeling of dissatisfaction, which in the future may lead to their leaving the company. If someone does not want to participate in games, contests - put up with it. The methodology of the experts of the magazine "Director of Human Resources". Do you want to know how actively employees participate in the life of the company?

1. Make sure that employees not only earn points for their personal interests, passing the next stage in the game, but also work.

Otherwise, part of the projects will be overdue, and customers will remain dissatisfied. In the future, this will negatively affect financial well-being.

1. When implementing gamification in business, do not copy the experience of other companies.

All games, olympiads, competitions must be adapted, developed taking into account the current norms and rules of the company, corporate culture etc. Involve experts if you are not good at all the intricacies.

All of us were once small and played something. In childhood, everything is learned through games, and we still believe that this prerogative belongs to children. But the game algorithm contains useful skills that can be used in business. Entrepreneur with 7 years of experience Rimma Nuyanzina will talk about gamification in business: how you can play with customers and at the same time increase sales. Rimma has an offline project (a private kindergarten) and two online projects (Galka-Igroka and Instaclass), and she really knows a lot about the rules of the game in business.

It is very difficult to capture the attention of a client. Especially in our time. And to gain loyalty for a long time - even more so. I have been studying for several months gamification in business and marketing. This method is effective even where traditional advertising fails. Gamification in business is rapidly evolving, and many famous brands have been using it for a long time. Let me give you three examples from own experience that I once implemented in projects.

Project Galka-Igrochka

Educational online resource for educational games

When: May 2014

Audience: subscribers of the project's free mailing list

Target: sell paid access to the game database to site subscribers

This is one of our promotions that we have implemented in the mailing list. We understood that there would be few sales in May, many partners in the infobusiness did not even try to make launches at this time. But we could not afford to rest, as always, we need to fulfill the sales plan so that there is money for salaries of employees, taxes and advertising next month.

We had to do it ourselves, quickly, creatively and efficiently. And we implemented the "Magic Lotto" promotion. The sold product in it was access to the service with galka-igralka.ru scripts, the main channel is . Every day for 3 days we sent a letter to the subscriber with a photo of a letter of the Latin alphabet. And they offered to find this letter in the writing of his email. If she was there, he clicked on the button “Yes, there is such a letter” in the letter. And in response I received a letter with two surprises: a 50% discount on the purchase of access to our service and an educational game based on the "lotto" principle for a child with an explanation of why it is useful.

Every day we sent a new symbol and a new surprise. On the last day we sent a symbol @ so that no one is offended. We also published letters with a photo of the symbol in the social networks of the project. People began to be interested in what was happening, and ran to sign / open letters in order to “play” with everyone.

Result: We closed May as well as any other month, fulfilled the sales plan, and also increased the open rate of mailing letters. I would like to note that in the game we unobtrusively conveyed the value of our product in just three letters, having interested hundreds of subscribers in the principles of the methodology for a long time.

Instaclass project

Project site: www.instagram.com/instaclass_pro/

When: August 2016

Audience: participants of the paid training marathon on Instagram

Target: increase satisfaction from participating in a paid marathon

Every month in the Instaclass project we hold a week-long training marathon. It looks like this: participants receive lessons by email, complete the task at home, and publish a report on the work done in the @instaclass_pro account, receiving feedback from experts. In August of this year, we held a marathon "Involve on Instagram".

Marathon "Involve on Instagram"

There were too many participants in the July marathon and, as a result, we did not have time to quickly give feedback and leave everyone satisfied without exception. This time we faced several challenges:

• Firstly, it was important for us to increase the price for participation (from 990 to 1300 rubles - preliminary price, 1400 to 2000 rubles - full price).
• Secondly, to increase the overall satisfaction from participating in the marathon. A marathon is a short-distance race: if a person does not turn on from the first lesson and task, then consider that he missed the entire marathon, which means he is unlikely to be satisfied.
• Thirdly, to encourage participants to communicate with each other and read the reports of others and all the feedback of experts. Give them freedom and the right to influence the results of the marathon.
• Fourthly, we had to show an example of high engagement in the account, since we are teaching this topic.

And I came up with "coins". A new paragraph has appeared in the rules of the marathon. Each participant was given 3 virtual coins per day, with which he had to vote for the work of the other participants. Did you like how the other participant coped with the task? Give him a coin. I didn’t have time to distribute coins in a day, they burn out. You can’t leave yourself, we don’t give credit.

Already on the first day, people wrote: “It’s a pity, there are only three coins!” Now people could influence the results of the marathon. In addition to objective criteria - he completed the task on time and reported - coins appeared, each of which was equated to an additional point. We kept score in an open table and then awarded six winners with useful gifts. There were a lot of positive emotions: gratitude, a sense of belonging to common cause, excitement.

Result: despite the price increase and technical hitches during the marathon, there were no dissatisfied by the end of the marathon. The involvement is maximum, as is the satisfaction from participation. This time we did not have a single return, although usually there are up to 5 of them per 100 participants. The percentage of active participants until the very last task increased from 60% to 83%.

And yet, as soon as the marathon started in the account and people started commenting, publishing reports and handing out coins, another 10 participants joined us in a day at the highest price. Although before that we sold only 5-10 packages at full price.

Intensives follow this principle in the @super_insta_intensiv account.

But we also use a similar technique at the training “Mom Writer”.

Before the training, we traditionally have an early list with useful materials and tasks. To motivate the participants of the early list, and then the training, to be active, I came up with a points system. For each completed task of the early list, the participant receives a point. That is, you can already come to the training with a certain number of points.

Then for each completed homework I give from one to three points - depending on how well the material is learned. You can improve your score if you correct the text and send it again. In addition, points are given for activity in the discussion of the texts of other participants.

At the end of the training, we calculate the points and give prizes to the most productive participants, the most valuable of which is the entire training.

I think the point system helps - we have almost one hundred percent success in this training.

Project: private kindergarten

When: May 2015

In May 2015, I helped partners fill a new private kindergarten in Chelyabinsk. We participated in the annual city exhibition, the stand was tiny and there was no money for its decoration at all. We needed to be remembered by visitors among hundreds of other children's institutions and shops. The task is difficult, you can’t show the kindergarten especially at the exhibition, this is not a bright children’s goods store.

We are opening a column for the Russian leader in corporate online learning - Active Learning. Until recently, we ourselves thought that we were far from business. But the time has come to accept the undeniable dignity of the business sphere: firstly, the effectiveness of the approaches applicable to e-learning in organizations is checked extremely quickly and accurately - with a ruble. Secondly, it is business skills (negotiating, risk assessment, teamwork) that are included in the gentleman's set. a good specialist in the job market; and to teach such skills in public institutions until they can. Therefore, we give businesses the opportunity to talk about their findings and methods, and teachers to hear and decide what can be transferred from this experience to their practice. Enjoy!

Gamification is one of the hottest topics in e-learning today. Its effectiveness as a tool for additional motivation and involvement of employees has been repeatedly confirmed in practice. However, the vogue for gamification not only benefits corporate learning, but is also fraught with its inappropriate use - and this is a direct path to frustration in the methodology itself. Let's consider the most common mistakes when introducing gamification into business processes.

Awards for nothing

Virtual awards are a really simple and practically free way to add non-financial motivation to your staff. "Sales Monster", "Negotiation Guru" and other rewards in the form of badges or medals add excitement to the process.

This method of motivation tends to devalue extremely quickly in the perception of the “players”.

What rewards really motivate us and don't have an expiration date? Those that are presented as an indisputable and very real achievement. I ran a marathon - I got a medal, I completed the sales plan ahead of schedule - I was glad for the award. It is these awards that we put on the shelf and keep for many years.

In this case, for the person himself and, most importantly, for all other participants, it is obvious that the award is well-deserved, and the game with medals is not just another "toy" of the HR department, but a reflection of quite real work processes. Otherwise, there is a risk that a fairly large part of the employees will perceive the introduction of gamification as an attempt at "innovative" manipulation, which will cause an effect that is directly opposite to motivation.

The ideal option is when all medals are issued only for what a person has done in real life and for what is an indisputable and objective achievement for all.

One size fits all

Does everyone play games? Hardly. Will everyone enjoy the introduction of gamification? Obviously not. Moreover, different people have completely different preferences for certain game mechanics: someone likes to compete and does it even in ordinary life, someone is prone to collecting, and someone enjoys the methodical tracking of movement towards their goal. When introducing gamification into business processes, it is very important to segment the audience according to their preferred “games” that they somehow “play” in their lives: at work, in the family, in informal interaction. Generally, there is a correlation between the type of work a person chooses, their gender, and their preferred game. Male salespeople, for example, like to compete; female salespeople like to accumulate their results.

The game of king of the hill

Gamification will definitely reveal the processes that are already happening latently in the team. If there are laggards in the team, they will begin to lag even further after seeing an objective picture of their position relative to the rest. The leaders will further strengthen their already good positions.

What is suppressed by a person in ordinary life becomes before him in full growth in the form of a position in the ranking, the number of medals and points.

At this point, it is important to give the laggards the opportunity to cope with the increased pressure and help break through to the top. It is also necessary to create new challenges for leaders within the game model. Otherwise, the effect of the “king of the hill” will work: the leaders remain at the top of all ratings without any significant effort, and the lagging behind realize the futility of their attempts to break through to the top and completely give up.

Inappropriate context

How do you like the idea of ​​gamifying the activities of ambulance workers? What about the people who are responsible for raising money to help cancer patients?

Our whole life is a game, but some areas of activity remain incompatible with the very concept of a game, and an attempt to implement them will cause, at best, unwillingness to participate, at worst, sincere indignation. In business, as a rule, such areas so far are everything related to finance, law, security, in some cases - management and mentoring.

Short strategy

Even the most exciting game sooner or later gets bored and, as a rule, this happens sooner rather than later. When introducing gamification, it is necessary to think over the role of this tool at the very start. And if, answering the question “How long do we plan to use it?”, You name a period of less than three years, it’s better not to start.

In fact, gamification is just a set of rules that refractions an already existing activity from a new angle.

When implemented correctly, gamification becomes as common and integral to work activities as holding meetings or rewarding employees for outstanding results.

Recall the element of gamification that was actively used in the USSR - social competition. This "game" has been an integral part of the life of the vast majority of the country's population for decades.

Ideal gamification is built into the work and educational process as part of the culture and way of working, and vice versa, the “let's introduce for a couple of months, and then we'll see” approach rarely works.