Partner Article

A game of time

For anyone that’s had to fill in timesheets, you will know it is not one of the more glamorous or exciting parts of any job. But as the saying goes, time is money and businesses need to know how employees are spending their time to ensure it is being used properly and the company can continue making a profit.

Yet, though all of us would admit it is important, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s still one of those jobs people put off. Administration that is sometimes shoved to a Friday afternoon or an afterthought at the end of the day.

But what if you could change timesheets and other aspects of admin so that it became more engaging. Position it in a way that people actually want to do it? Crazy, right? Well, not necessarily.

Gamification is a concept that’s been used for some time, but recently we are seeing more of it implemented into the workplace. It essentially means weaving in elements of the gaming world where completing levels or games unlocks rewards and prizes. Given how popular smartphones, tablets and the next generation of games consoles are at the moment, most people are gamers, sometimes without even knowing it. It’s why King, the maker of Candy Crush Saga, was one of the biggest initial public offerings on the US stock exchange this year.

With so many people playing and enjoying games, why not bring some elements of that into the workplace. Reward staff for everything from completing admin tasks on time to customer service success. Unlock prizes when certain levels are reached to put employees in competition against each other in company-wide league tables. You will quickly see that the apathy towards sometimes monotonous or time consuming tasks quickly dissipates and in its place, you will get more accurate records and more engaged employees. What makes this even more inclusive is the fact employees can do it when they want to via their smart device. If you are travelling to or from a meeting, quickly level-up on your timesheets. If you are an engineer and just completed a job, enter it instantly and bolster your ranking, and even use it as an opportunity to show leadership by completing extra tasks or going above and beyond to complete a job.

As business owners and employees, we are always going to need to complete admin work and tackle unglamorous tasks. By adding an element of fun to that task, we may be able to make it a slightly less arduous task to complete. The benefits of more accurately recorded work data and staff that are more engaged on the whole can only be a good thing. And with gamification being a new science, who knows what other aspects of our working lives it will soon begin to impact.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nimrod Mizrahi .