6 Things to Consider Before you Implement a Gamification Strategy

Gamification has been my main learning opportunity and new professional skill for over two years. I went live with my first gamification effort in August 2011 at an educational company and now I am working as a gamification expert for one of my favorite clients. It's a lot of fun working with teams that are committed and enthusiastic!

There are many positives and negatives about implementing gamification, from matching a cultural fit to ensuring that there is top down support for the effort. 

Top down support is the place to reality check first. If your leaders aren't sold on the idea, it's likely that some of the necessary pillars for success will not get put in place before they want to "hurry up and launch it!" Make sure they know what they're getting into and how it affects the bottom like.

After experiencing this gamification effort and watching implementations succeed or fail, what kind of tips can I offer to a company considering using gamification to engage their employees? Here are six that are vital.

1) "Just what the hell is gamification? Is it all Nintendo and no real work?" Ensure everyone knows what gamification is: a way to use proven techniques to encourage, engage, and reward people for doing the things the organization wants them to accomplish.

2) "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Be sure that you can quantify what you REALLY want your employees / customers to accomplish. It has to be measurable. 

3) "Know your audience." Make sure the experience is genuine to your product or service and a good cultural fit for your community. If there is a disconnect, you can bet they won't participate.

4) "Honesty is the best policy." If you make a mistake, own up to it immediately and completely. People forgive mistakes. People remember cover-ups. This is especially true with customers on the internet. The internet never forgets and it's awake 24 hours a day.

5) "Gamification is NOT 'fire and forget." Successful gamification efforts are seriously supported. You measure and adjust. You redo your onboarding until it shines. You find ways to continually delight your community. Continuous upkeep and tweaking of the experience is vital to long-term success. New features are introduced as they are needed, and those are carefully chosen by the right people, which may in fact be your community. 

6) "Are you committed?" Gamification is a big undertaking, but the results can not only be measured, they can significantly affect your ROI. Making the shift to gamifying your company in any way requires a lot of trust (with everyone in your company), and a commitment to constant self-reflection. Are the company's needs aligned with its processes? Do we know what our staff are supposed to be doing? Are we providing the right service to our customers? If you are ready to question everything so you can align your gamification efforts with those of the organization and your community or employees, you are on the right path.

Without a Community Engagement Manager, 

your community is not really connected

In order to keep the above maxims alive and thriving, you require a dedicated, driven, healthy "Community Engagement Manager" to continually understand the feelings of the staff and align their goals and needs with those of the organization. They are also responsible for the overall health of the community as well as leading the product direction for the gamification efforts. 

Only a special person can juggle these needs and lead your community exceptionally well. It's a non-stop challenge to keep people interested, and if the point is to keep them engaged, they need to be well nurtured. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Do you know an amazing "Community Engagement Manager?" What qualities do you think they should bring to the table? What is their real job title?