Within the enterprise, gamification – the process of adding gaming elements to a non-gaming activity to encourage action and participation – has gone from being a faux pas to an accepted growing trend. Currently, many software vendors are experimenting by adding gaming elements to their software. I decided to do some experimenting of my own, focusing on help desk software.

The support team environment is a rigorous and demanding one where there is high turnover due to support agents getting burned out. But what if you added gaming elements to help desk software in such a way that helped boost employee retention by providing agents with a greater sense of accomplishment? If they felt like they were “winning,” perhaps agents would be more motivated in their daily activities.

Going off this premise, I focused on a few of the main activities support agents engage in each day (ticket resolutions, customer relations, training) and added some gaming element to it. I made some sketches of what the UI’s of a “gamified” help desk system might look like. Check them out below.

1. Accomplishment metrics

Three of the most important metrics to support agents are number of ticket resolutions, number of “quick” ticket resolutions and positive customer feedback. In this UI, you can see that those three metrics are tracked visibly across the top of the agent’s dashboard. The numbers increase as the day goes on, allowing the agent to see their progress and accomplishments in real time. Additionally, these metrics are variable, depending on the organization. For example, a “quick” resolution could be one that happens in 30 minutes or less.

2. Leaderboards

Based on those metrics, you could create leaderboards, allowing agents to see how they are measuring up again their peers. You will notice the added “Score” column. Again, this is a variable metric, depending on how your organization weights the three individual metrics.

You could do the same with a team leaderboard, comparing parallel support teams within your organization.

3. Training:

One of the biggest issues support team managers have is onboarding new agents in a timely manner. By gamifying the training process, you could ensure a quick onboarding process, while making it fun for the new agent.

In terms of ensuring that employees are business literate and have a good view of organizational performance, there seems to be little variation across the geographical regions. Even so, Asia-Pacific sits at the bottom of the pack on these important issues related to providing clarity and building a sense of connection.

The second issue I spotted was related to Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Given the nature of the talent race in Asia, I think it’s quite a hot issues these days. And interestingly, a higher percentage of Asia-Pacific companies report that they have a clearly defined EVP. However, when it comes to having a segmented EVP approach (e.g. for high performers, high potentials etc.), these companies fare a bit badly. Also, the bigger question is how effectively is the EVP winning mind-share in the talent market.

And as social media powers the new world of communications, there is a fair distance that companies in Asia-Pacific have to go. Only about 30% of the organizations report that they have a documented social media policy in place, the corresponding number for the USA is 77%! Moreover, only a handful of Asia-Pacific companies report that they have the right tools to measure the effectiveness of social media. So, first there is an adoption issue and then, if measurement is not effective, then establishing a clear business case for social media will be a challenge for companies. As for me, I am more interested in finding out how Asia Pacific companies are leveraging these channels for building an open, transparent and collaborative workplace.

All graphs and data credits to Towers Watson

On the other hand, there is some data (though limited to the USA) from a mobile analytics firm, Flurry, to suggest that mobile app usage is not only increasing over time, but is also actually ahead of the traditional web consumption. This reinforces the strength of the mobile medium.

Combining the two trends above, I feel that the most ubiquitous, available, connected and engaging screen is the screen of a smart-phone. It is always with the individual, it is always on and one can push content on it. While a number of companies are using this screen for engaging their customers, I have not come across companies with a mobile strategy for engaging their employees. The possibilities are endless. It could be an enterprise social networking app to keep up with other colleagues or the latest news about the company or to check out what is the next product being developed by the team on the 18th floor! It could be a video app where people could listen to senior leaders articulating the purpose of the company or the new strategy. It could be an app that provides e-learning. It could be an intelligent recommendation engine app that looks across all your enterprise web activities and recommends books for professional development. Or it could all come together in an integrated app. I could go on, but I am sure that we can conjure up even greater possibilities with this.

I think having a mobile strategy for engaging employees is very important already, though it may not be widely recognized as a need. I think this is a powerful medium to connect and engage with employees. If you have any ideas on how to bring a “mobile employee engagement strategy” to life, do write in!

Enjoy the infographic! And do share your best ideas on gamification.

Why is enterprise technology—the kind your employer has always provided—being eclipsed by products your kids use? To begin with, consumer technologies are more fun, more intuitive—and better for what people actually want to do. Facebook and Twitter, for example, provide a broader form of connectedness than e-mail. Microsoft and Google’s mapping services keep adding higher resolution and more relevant information. YouTube has blasted a crater-size hole in the bulwark of broadcast media, and users upload about 24 hours’ worth of videos to it every minute. When was the last time an enterprise application created so much excitement that its growth could be measured every 60 seconds?

I have always felt appalled at the sorry state and the cumbersomeness of our “work” software (see here and here). Instead of “enabling” people, they often eat up a lot of productive time to accomplish minor administrative tasks. As a result, several people bring their own solutions to the situation. They start using consumer cloud storage to create backup of data, in case the VPN isn’t working from outside office, they connect with prospects over social networks, search for critical information on their self-paid smartphones, read company articles on tablet devices – the list goes on. The authors write:

With all that’s happening, it’s easy to imagine a world, five years from now, where the ninth generation of Apple’s iPhone is many employees’ primary computer, and where the time that employees spend on enterprise systems is measured in minutes per day, not hours.

There is a hint of freedom in this view of the future—a secret thrill in having a way, finally, to escape the shackles of corporate technology policy. However, from a business standpoint, the presence of consumer technologies in the enterprise, and the increasing inclination of workers to “go rogue,” are not unqualified pluses—by a long shot. These technologies create real risks around data security, scalability, cost management, and data governance. They complicate operations for the many big companies that still make extensive use of legacy systems.

And they then go on to exist how these two technologies can co-exist.

1. Make decisions based on facts, not conjecture. Don’t guess at the impact consumer technologies are having. Ask your people, for starters, but be sure to distinguish between their use of consumer technology on company time and their use of it to do company work.

2. End the blanket ban on Internet services. Employees are pretty much ignoring these bans on Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and the like anyway. Look for ways to take advantage of these services in the workplace.

3. Embrace consumer applications as a recruitment tool. Some companies already use their support for open systems and Apple products to impress their flexibility upon job candidates.

4. Get out in front of the trend. Employees are already spending their own money on technology that benefits their employers. Pick a group, set some ground rules for a category of technology (smartphones, say), set a per-person budget, and see how people do with it.

5. Accept the inevitable. More company data will reside in the cloud, so update your IT and data policies accordingly.

Bottom line: Every company will have to explore ways to make use of the consumer technology revolution. The big strategic technology issue for the next decade will be how business leaders, CIOs, and IT departments adjust to a world that has gone in a new direction—that has gone a little rogue—and is not coming back.

It’s high time we re-think the way things get done, the way software powers businesses and people. One can intuitively think of the substantial productivity gains for the enterprise as a result. And for employees, it’s one more step towards the ideal enterprise.

I am putting together a small list of hacks and stories which I found most interesting on the forum:

• Julian Birkinshaw of the London Business School writes a thought-provoking piece on “What is Your Management Model?” We have all talked about business models, but not much about the management model. How are we going to make choices about people, effort coordination, objectives etc.? How will we balance a traditional vs. a new-age management practice? Ultimately, what’s more important – the business model or the management model? Must Read.

• Jordan Cohen of Pfizer tells a great story about how to make people more efficient by taking out the routine work out of their work. Fascinating example of outsourcing low value-adding tasks.

• Matt Sholsberg asks us to reinvent the wheel. And for a reason – the wheel itself is over 5000 years old!

• So many organizations are still contemplating about social media. How to adopt? How to ingrain? How to measure success? Srinivas Koushik of Nationwide shares the story of how they built the social web into the very fabric of the organization.

• Chris Grams shares his experiences and ideas on how can organizations become “open” and engage their employees. Great ideas if you want to build an organization based on trust, transparency, openness and collaboration.

What are your ideas? Or if you like, “hacks” to re-invent management?

Often I find that “information” is the key. It is one of the most powerful sources of individual competitive advantages in an organizational context. In most cases, we find that the higher  you are in the hierarchy, the more information you have. Authority is the mirror image of the information one has. In a way, how much should you know is dependent on where you sit across a range of job grades! And, we are not just talking about sensitive information like detailed financials or diversity reports (though I don’t feel these are sensitive!). We are talking the essentials – information about product / services, procedures, systems, repository of innovative ideas, best practices, customer insights or even people – as to who specializes in what or who is the “go-to” person for a particular issue. And, all this information is usually sitting pretty somewhere “up” there! Far away from people, who might need it the most!

If this issue is unchecked, often I see cases of “information hoarding”. As humans, we like to “own” things – put a seal on them – “mine”! It appears we sometimes do the same with information. Especially, when organization structures / practices / culture does not place enough emphasis (I am not talking about mere lip service) on sharing. Worst of all, the whole system sometimes ends up rewarding the ones who hoard information. After all, information is power and one can succeed with the right information. So, that becomes the norm. The message is out. “Hold on to the information. You are better off keeping it to yourself, rather than sharing it with everyone. You can get things done. Win that big bonus. Become a star. And you can outpace others in office.”

What does this lead to? Sooner, rather than later – poor enterprise performance. Let me give some examples, which you might be able to relate to:

• You call your bank’s phone-banking line because you have a wrong transaction in your account – nothing very major. The phone-banking rep puts you on hold to look into the manual on how to address the problem. Doesn’t find the right information and transfers your call to the “relevant” department. Again, no resolution. Looks like something is missing in the manual. Or maybe, some one sat there up in the corner office and designed it without knowing the ground realities. Finally, the call is transferred to the “manager”, who is able to reverse the transaction and closes out the issue. You look at your watch and realize that was 20 minutes of your time for a $10 transaction!

• You are attending an exhibition where companies are demonstrating some fancy manufacturing machinery. It’s a big event. You set your eyes on a piece of work, and you reckon it can improve your plant’s productivity by 10-15%. But, you are worried about energy consumption and ask the company’s reps “I know this machinery can be customized to a customer’s needs. Which specific components are most customizable from the point of reducing energy consumption, while maintaining productivity?” The rep looks at you, looks at his colleagues. Smiles. “I will have to get back to you.” Wonders to himself “Boss knows!”. And, you move on to talk to some of the other stalls at the exhibition.

• A customer calls you and asks you to come over to make a sales pitch on a specific subject, say business continuity services. Given the customer’s industry, you know that your colleague in another team had made a similar pitch a few years back. You go to her, ask for some materials that you can re-use. She says, “I am a bit busy. Getting on a plane soon. Will try to send something in the next 1 week”. Oh! The customer wanted the presentation tomorrow. And you get back to your desk and spend the rest of the day (and part of the night) in re-inventing something that already exists in a fine form. Talk about putting in productive hours at work!

The list is endless. And, the potential for productivity gains by addressing this area is endless too. I feel very passionately for this issue, since I have seen hundreds of people, including myself, being affected by this. And even more so, because now we really seem to have enabling technology to support information sharing like never before. And that is a very important development. But, technology in itself can never ever be the ultimate solution. It’s a tool, not an outcome. More importantly, it will have to be about imbibing the value of sharing, building a culture which supports and disproportionately rewards “information disseminators”.

We need to free up information. What has been your experience? How can we hack companies’ management practices and liberate the information to reach where it truly belongs – the people? How can we bust these islands of information? How can we build this component of “the ideal enterprise”. How can we do that? Tell me now!

Enjoy the Talk.

Update: Here is a quick review of Clay Shirky’s latest book on the subject of Cognitive Surplus.

Small is Beautiful: Companies begin to breakdown into collaborative network of smaller organizations; specialization dominates the world economy.

Corporate is King: Big company capitalism rules as organizations continue to grow bigger and individual preferences trump belief about social responsibility

Companies Care: Social responsibility dominates the corporate agenda with concerns about demographic changes, climate and sustainability becoming the key drivers of business

The report also gives you a glimpse on how these worlds would function and how business, and more specifically HR, would transform. Very very interesting. Read the full report here – it’s worth your time.

I created a quick deck of slides which contains an overview of the survey and key verbatim responses. If you cannot see the slideshow below, please click here.

What do you think? What do you feel about the usage of social media sites in the workplace?