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<p style="text-align: justify;">The concept of gamification has been around for a while (although the word itself is a 21st-century addition to the English lexicon), and it is used more every day. But, as a game designer myself (with over 35 years of experience and multiple published games out there), I have noted that the concept is often wildly misunderstood or misinterpreted, so I wanted to clarify it a bit.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">So, what is gamification?&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Generally, it means incorporating game mechanics or game-like elements into something (a process, task, or anything really!) to engage better and motivate people. Gamification is effective because it taps into people's desires for competition and achievement and makes things fun.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Seven essential game mechanics - or dynamics - combined make gamification a very effective tool. Some of these mechanics are:</p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Advancement</li><li>Freedom</li><li>Multi-sensory experience</li><li>Feedback</li><li>Competition</li><li>Challenge</li><li>Surprise</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;"><br />Each of these elements can be very useful and powerful just by itself, but when you put them together in a well-designed and thoughtful manner, gamification magic will truly happen!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The big question I often get asked is, "What can be gamified?".</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Well, pretty much any task, process, chore, or action can be gamified in very different ways depending on the nature of the activity in question. You can gamify anything - from your kid's morning routines to your gardening tasks, exercise, or Xmas gift wrapping (if you want to do so for some reason!). Truly the only limit is your imagination (and perhaps somewhat your game design skills, too, for sure).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">One of the most interesting areas to gamify is the workplace. In any company, at least the following processes can be easily gamified and made more efficient and fun: Recruitment, new employee orientation, onboarding, training, change management, safety compliance, strategy execution, etc. The list goes on!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Gamification works when properly designed and executed because it taps into some of our core drives and motivators as humans. These drivers drive us and can also be seen as a type of game mechanics - in addition to any gamified task - for life itself. Some of the most powerful motivator mechanics are things like ownership, meaning, empowerment, accomplishment, scarcity, avoidance, unpredictability, and sociability. And it is exactly due to these human drivers, gamification is so effective, especially in education and corporate training, or whenever any kind of real learning is ideal!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">There are many benefits to using gamification in different tasks and processes, but the key ones are definitively:</p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Increased motivation</li><li>Increased engagement</li><li>Increased productivity</li><li>More social interaction</li><li>Creation of safe environments</li><li>Improved communication and feedback</li><li>Obtaining valuable data</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a nutshell, gamification enforces the positive circle of personal and organizational development.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em>This article was contributed by our expert <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/teromoliis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tero Moliis</a></em></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Tero Moliis&nbsp;</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1. How do you use gamification in workplace tips and examples?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Gamification can be used in almost all processes, from recruiting to onboarding, from strategy and values execution to change management, even safety and compliance training, and staff/patient wellbeing activities. Your imagination is the only limit!&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2. Why use gamification in hiring?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Not only will you show a more approachable way for people to apply, but by gamifying and automating the hiring process, you will obtain great data and results about the people even before you interview them, and can select those who engaged most, learned most about your company in advance, or even obtained the highest scores in the actual games.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">3. What is an example of gamification in training?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">For example, a few UK-based theme parks (including LEGOLAND in Windsor) have applied gamification for location-based employee training. The Parks use the Seppo.io gamification platform for onboarding new employees and to do location-based training where it is often difficult to get everybody in the same place simultaneously.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">4. What influences can gamification have on teaching and learning?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Gamified learning aims at - and can create real change in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. And combining active learning, narrative, and creativity, gamification turns the learner from a listener to a doer, and it works wonderfully well when done correctly!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>