Game Mechanics and Projects

Abid Mustafa is a seasoned professional with 18 years' experience in the IT and telecommunications industry, specializing in enhancing corporate performance through the establishment and operation of executive PMOs and delivering tangible benefits through the management of complex transformation programs and projects.

  Innovation   ProjectsAtWork  

Game mechanics can be applied to the discipline of project management, both as a motivational and training aid. By making project work more enjoyable through real-time recognition and rewards, gamification can also improve team productivity and individual performance.

Gamification — the application of gaming concepts to non-gaming environments or systems — is a hot trend that is beginning to influence the world of projects.

Games and projects share some noticeable traits. Any game worth its salt is driven by coherent goals, well defined player roles and meaningful metrics to provide feedback on progression. Likewise, well-managed projects are guided by cogent objectives, team members (akin to players) have delineated roles, and intelligent metrics are employed to measure progress. The significant difference between the two lies in gaming feedback, which is transparent, instantaneous and public.

The purpose of this article is to explore the feasibility of gaming mechanics and rules on the discipline of project management, focusing on three areas: productivity, recognition and rewards.

Productivity

Program directors use various methods to enhance the output of teams. Gamification is another variant in this pursuit. Often project teams belonging to the same organization work on identical projects. The work is usually undertaken concurrently and …

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