How can I use gamification in my company to increase productivity?

Motivation image by Michael GiuffridaCreating fun and competitiveness in the workplace is not a new concept, but with today’s technology tools and systems, it has become more accessible and more real-time. For many years organizations have created contests for sales people to pit them against each other in hopes of increasing sales….because it works!  Sales people by nature are competitive and want to be at the top of the leader board.  This is sometimes a greater incentive than the commission they will receive when closing the sale (sometimes).

However, salespeople are not the only ones who should participate in the fun of contests and competitions.  You can find creative ways to get everyone involved.  If you have customer facing employees use customer feedback ratings as a measure for a contest.  For people involved with solving client problems such as technical issues use the number of closed tickets.  You can even involve more back office types in jobs like accounting by having a contest for the person who reduces accounts receivable days by the largest percentage.

The important thing to take away is that every set of job functions has something that can be measured and by measuring it and creating a little friendly competition, you will likely see the results of those measures improve.

‘President’s Club’ doesn’t have to be reserved for sales people any more either.  Find a way to compare everyone’s measures in the organization and for those who exceed their measure by a certain percentage they could be eligible for the ‘big prize’ as well. By getting the whole company involved you will find that people will interact more and productivity will greatly increase.

Lastly, make sure to display the standings as real-time as you can.  If it can come directly from your tracking system onto a screen in a public area that is great!  If not, have someone print out the standings at least weekly, post them around the office, and email everyone so they don’t miss it.  People need to know where they stand to be motivated to move up the list. Have some fun with gamification and your team will as well.


Michael Giuffrida from Southington CT has been operating businesses since 1997.  He is an experienced entrepreneur in business management, profitable growth, business valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and information technology managed services.

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