Wish Your Workers Could Get More Done, Move More Efficiently, and Be More Accurate? Sounds Like It’s Time for a Game!
Warehouses, factories, and other supply chain facilities have become host to some intense competition and big prizes lately. Who would have thought? (Apparently, the people who understand how to modify behavior and started building gamification apps.)
President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “When you play, play hard. When you work, don’t play at all.” And while some people might still subscribe to that idea, the reality is that when you play at work, you often work harder – often without even realizing it.
That’s because we’re a gaming society, and gamification is how we make the hard things more enjoyable, like exercising our bodies and brains, eating right, getting enough sleep, and managing our money. (It’s also how we make the things we enjoy more enjoyable, for the record. I love racking up the points in the loyalty apps at my favorite stores and restaurants!)
So, even though some might shun playing games at work, gamifying work is how more work gets done, especially among those who are hustling and grinding all day on the front lines and wish it didn’t feel so much like a grind.
That’s why I’ve always wanted to understand a bit more of the magic (and psychology) behind it:
- How it works.
- Why it works.
- How you can use it to make the work you do way more fun for everyone on your team.
- Why, after a decade of being on the market, gamification is just now seemingly topping the investment charts in supply chain operations.
I’ve also been curious about whether gamification is ever deemed “forced fun” by frontline workers, thereby causing such motivation tactics to backfire. And, like everyone else, I have been wondering how AI fits into the (quite competitive) games that are increasingly being played on warehouse and manufacturing plant floors.
So, I went knocking on the doors of my friends at Koerber Supply Chain Software and vaibe looking for the people who have been designing, developing and helping implement gamification tools for over a decade now to get some answers. I was graciously met by:
- Tiago Sottomayor, Chief Technology Officer at vaibe
- Nick Retzmann, Chief Growth and Product Officer at vaibe
- Christine Hirtz, a Key Account Executive with Korber Supply Chain Software
I have to admit, it’s really hard to make a case against gamification once you hear what they have to say. (In fact, I’m going to advocate for Zebra to start using it more. It would sure help me stop procrastinating on some things I’m not as enthusiastic about doing, such as core compliance training.)
So, send me a note on LinkedIn after you listen in and let me know your thoughts. Do you agree that more people should be playing games on the job? Or is gamification just a distraction?
Did you miss the other conversations with industry insiders from Körber Supply Chain? Catch up now...
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