You found our list of fun gamification examples for work.
Gamification examples for work are the strategic use of game design elements in non-game contexts to boost employee engagement and productivity. For example, introducing leaderboards, daily habit tracker streaks, and innovation tournaments. The purpose of these examples is to motivate employees, encourage teamwork, and improve overall job performance. These examples are also known as “examples of gamification in business” and “employee gamification platforms.”
These exercises are examples of employee engagement ideas, team building activities, professional development ideas, and team building methods.
This list includes:
- examples of gamification in business
- best examples of gamification
- mental gamification examples for work
- gamification examples in training
Let’s get to it!
List of gamification examples for work
From leaderboards to role mastery levels, here is our list of the best gamification examples for work.
1. Leaderboards
Leaderboards are one of the most common examples of gamification in business. Workplace leaderboards track and display employees’ performance rankings, motivating individuals to excel and fostering friendly competition. It is crucial for leaderboards to promote a positive work environment and avoid unhealthy rivalries. Including leaderboards can establish clear goals for employees, enhancing productivity and engagement. If implemented effectively, then these tools drive performance improvements and increase satisfaction. Balancing competition with collaboration ensures all team members feel valued, leading to a cohesive work environment.
2. Daily Habit Tracker Streaks
Daily Habit Tracker Streaks can be a powerful tool for gamifying work tasks, which helps to promote motivation and focus. When individuals track their habits and maintain streaks, they establish positive routines that boost productivity and a sense of accomplishment. Individuals can improve their time management skills and task completion rates by incorporating streaks into their work routines. The visual representation of progress is a constant reminder of achievements, fostering control and improvement.
First, choose a tracking tool like Habitica or a shared Google Sheet, and define a few simple daily habits for employees to track. Then, add fun rewards like extra break time or shoutouts for completing streaks, and do weekly check-ins to celebrate progress and keep motivation high.
This lifestyle change is one of the best mental gamification examples for work, as it rewires psychology to perform more optimally.
Zapier has a list of the best habit tracker apps.
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3. Innovation Tournaments
Innovation Tournaments are structured events where employees compete to generate creative solutions for company challenges. The events are also commonly called hackathons. These tournaments inspire friendly competition and out-of-the-box thinking, boosting employee engagement. Participants present their innovative ideas to judges, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. The competitive nature motivates individuals to think innovatively and identify talented problem-solvers within the organization. Incorporating innovation tournaments into the workplace harnesses creative potential, drives innovation, and enhances team collaboration through gamification principles, sparking significant advancements.
4. Health Challenges
Health challenges can significantly affect work productivity and overall well-being. Participating in wellness programs with game-like features can inspire employees to embrace healthier habits and address these challenges directly.
For example:
- Hydration Quest: Create a “water-drinking adventure” where employees earn points for each glass of water, with mini-milestones like reaching “Hydration Hero” status. Add bonuses for trying creative, infused water recipes.
- Stairway Sprint: Encourage taking the stairs over the elevator, with points awarded for every set climbed. Weekly “Champion of the Stairs” earns a small perk like a prime parking spot or lunch voucher.
- Healthy Lunch Photo Contest: Employees earn points by sharing photos of balanced, home-prepped lunches. Extra points for creative presentation or incorporating a specific weekly ingredient.
By including competition, rewards, and goal-setting in health initiatives, you motivate employees to make beneficial lifestyle changes that enhance their physical and mental well-being. Gamification can create a more enjoyable and effective approach to tackling health challenges in the workplace setting.
5. Recognition Badges
Employers can give recognition badges to employees to acknowledge their achievements at work, which boosts motivation and morale. These visual symbols act as positive reinforcement, encouraging individuals to excel.
Examples:
- “Idea Igniter”: Awarded for contributing a unique, practical idea in a team brainstorm or suggestion box, sparking a new approach or solution.
- “Problem-Solver Extraordinaire”: Given to an employee who resolves a complex issue that benefits multiple team members or departments.
- “Positive Ripple”: For spreading good vibes, whether through encouragement, sharing helpful resources, or creating a positive atmosphere during tough projects.
- “Crisis Calmer”: For handling unexpected high-pressure situations calmly and effectively, ensuring minimal disruption to workflow.
- “Hot Streak”: Hitting a goal consecutively, for instance, closing ten deals in a row.
You can add these badges to desk spaces, employee directories, and Slack profiles, for example. By valuing the hard work of employees through badges, job satisfaction increases. Using these badges helps create a culture of appreciation and continuous improvement within teams. Ultimately, they enhance employee engagement and performance by celebrating individual successes in the workplace.
6. Departmental Skill-Builder Competitions
Skill-building competitions within departments foster teamwork and individual development in the workplace. These contests aim to improve particular skills, promote a culture of continuous learning, and encourage healthy competition among employees. These activities allow staff to improve their abilities and aim for excellence in their respective roles. Organizing such competitions strengthens camaraderie and structured learning environments and empowers employees to innovate and succeed through continuous learning opportunities.
Learn more about work competitions.
7. Project Sprints
Project sprints consist of brief, concentrated periods lasting one to four weeks to complete particular tasks efficiently. This approach boosts productivity, teamwork, and flexibility. Sprints foster motivation and collaboration while helping folks prioritize tasks and meet deadlines. Adopting this method in work simplifies processes and improves outcomes via methodical management strategies.
8. Customer Service Scores
Customer service scores are crucial for evaluating how well a company meets customer needs and expectations. Businesses can motivate employees to improve these scores by using gamification techniques and rewarding them for excellent customer service.
Examples:
- “Service Star Streaks”: Employees earn points for each day they maintain or improve their customer service scores, with bonuses for hitting milestone streaks, like 5 or 10 days in a row.
- “Customer Hero Missions”: Set weekly challenges where employees must resolve specific customer issues, like difficult refunds or product queries, earning badges for completion.
- “Score Surge Leaderboard”: Track customer service scores and rank employees weekly, with top performers getting exclusive perks like a coffee voucher or team recognition.
- “Feedback Fortune Wheel”: Employees who exceed score thresholds get a spin on a virtual “wheel of fortune” for small, random rewards like extra break time or priority parking.
- “Surprise Satisfaction”: Send mystery surveys to customers, and employees who get glowing feedback or perfect scores on these surprise surveys earn instant rewards or public shoutouts.
This approach can increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and, ultimately, business success. Gamifying customer service scores can create a more engaging and rewarding work environment for employees, benefiting the company.
Read about customer service companies.
9. Themed Weekly Challenges
Themed Weekly Challenges are one of the best examples of gamification. These events bring excitement and motivation to the workplace as employees engage in enjoyable weekly tasks. These challenges, which are usually themed or goal-focused, encourage teamwork and friendly competition among colleagues.
Examples:
- Email Efficiency Sprint: Employees race to clear out their inboxes by a set deadline, earning points for how quickly and effectively they respond to or organize messages.
- Speedy Response Quest: Reward employees for responding to customer or team queries within a specific time frame. Extra points for detailed, thoughtful answers.
- Idea Factory: Team members submit ideas for improving office processes, systems, or team dynamics, with the most implementable ideas earning points and rewards.
- Time Mastery Trial: Employees track how well they stick to a structured daily schedule, earning points for prioritizing tasks, staying on track, and reducing distractions.
Accomplishing these challenges raises morale and problem-solving abilities and nurtures creativity. Employees deviate from their usual tasks, improving collaboration and camaraderie with their team members. Participating in these activities makes individuals feel appreciated and inspired to give their best efforts, fostering a positive work environment that ignites enthusiasm.
Here are more examples of office challenges.
10. Learning XP
Learning experience points (XP) are rewards earned through gamified workplace training. These platforms incorporate gaming elements such as challenges and levels to enhance employee engagement in learning. By earning XP for completing tasks and developing skills, employees feel a sense of achievement and growth and stay motivated. Gamification boosts motivation while also improving knowledge retention and skills. This tactic creates interactive learning settings that promote growth and friendly competition among coworkers, and give team members as sense of progress. Learning XP is also one of the most original gamification examples in training.
11. Team Quests
Team quests are challenges that require collaboration, with employees working together to solve problems or finish projects by a deadline. Participating in team quests can strengthen communication, teamwork, and motivation. These activities promote a sense of camaraderie among team members, which can result in higher productivity and job satisfaction.
Examples:
- Cross-Department Collaboration Quest: Teams must work with a different department to solve a shared problem or complete a project, earning points for communication and successful outcome.
- Customer Journey Mapping: Teams collaborate to map out the ideal customer experience from start to finish, earning points for detail, creativity, and alignment with company values.
- Product Launch Pioneers: Teams must create a mock launch plan for a new product or service, earning points for creativity, research, and presentation of the plan.
- Community Impact Quest: Teams develop a community outreach or charity initiative, with points awarded for execution, teamwork, and positive community feedback.
Participants can sharpen their problem-solving skills by engaging in these quests, utilizing their strengths, and providing mutual support to achieve common objectives. Accomplishing team quests can uplift morale and performance, building strong, unified teams and a positive work environment.
12. Ring the Gong, Play a Song
The Ring the Gong, Play a Song approach means every time a team or employee hits a target or achieves a milestone, they ring a gong or play a selected celebratory song. This simple yet effective technique adds a layer of fun and public recognition, encouraging other team members to celebrate with the employee and strive for their own goals. Such positive reinforcement makes accomplishments memorable and inspires continuous improvement within the workforce.
13. Performance Points
Gamification in the workplace can significantly enhance performance through a Performance Points system. Team members earn points for meeting specified goals or exceeding key performance indicators. These accumulated points are exchangeable for rewards such as extra vacation days, gift cards, or even the opportunity to work on special projects. This simple tactic can raise productivity while promoting a fun, engaging, and competitive atmosphere that fosters employee loyalty and motivation.
14. Reward Cycles
Reward Cycles are structured systems where employees earn rewards for accomplishing specific tasks or hitting set goals within a period. For example, an employee might earn 10 points for each client call they complete, and once they reach 100 points, they can exchange them for a $25 gift card. Alternatively, after completing a challenging project on time, they could earn a special “Project Master” badge, which includes a team celebration and a chance to lead the next project. These cycles create a continuous loop of motivation and recognition and keep employees eager to achieve.
15. Random Challenge Wheel
Introducing the “Random Challenge Wheel” can raise team engagement and foster a lively workplace atmosphere. Employees spin a wheel to receive random tasks or challenges that are fun and work-related. These challenges might range from creatively brainstorming a new product idea to organizing a quick team-building exercise. This playful competition encourages creativity and promotes learning and collaboration amongst team members, making everyday tasks more dynamic and enjoyable.
16. Role Mastery Levels
Implementing Role Mastery Levels in the workplace can significantly boost employee engagement and skill development. Employees can see their progress toward mastering their jobs by defining specific competencies and achievements for each role. This gamification technique can be playful or more straightforward, meaning that more formal industries can also benefit from this gamification approach.
Companies can double down on this tactic by incorporating badges, leaderboards, or tiered-level systems to mark each milestone achieved.
17. Learning Passport Stamps
Implementing Learning Passport Stamps injects fun into workplace training, rewarding employees when they complete a new skill or certification. As with a traveler collecting stamps from different countries, employees collect stamps for their personal “passports” for each course or workshop completed. This engaging approach lifts morale while encouraging ongoing professional development. Employees are also more likely to strive for skills they might not have initially considered out of a desire to collect all stamps.
18. Efficiency Zone Race
Introducing the “Efficiency Zone Race” in your workplace can greatly impact productivity and engagement. In this competitive setup, employees get into teams and tasked with completing their work tasks in the most efficient manner possible. You will award points based on speed, accuracy, and innovation in problem-solving, with a live leaderboard tracking progress. This gamification example encourages a healthy competitive spirit while fostering teamwork and honing time management skills. At the end of each month, the winning team receives recognition or rewards, sustaining motivation and driving continuous improvement.
19. In-Meeting “Easter Eggs
Adding Easter Eggs to work meetings can bring enjoyment and excitement. Easter Eggs could include interesting facts, jokes, images, or secret words slipped into the meeting at random. Participants must notice and identify these elements to win a prize. These hidden surprises increase attendee attention and engagement without distracting too much from the meeting’s main topics. The game also makes meetings more entertaining and enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
Exploring various gamification strategies can transform a typical workplace into a dynamic environment that fosters growth and efficiency. Companies can significantly boost morale and productivity by integrating game-like elements such as leaderboards or daily challenges. Moreover, these methods help in retaining talent by making daily tasks more engaging and rewarding. Adopting such innovative approaches could be crucial in maintaining a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced business world.
Next, check out our posts on benefits of fun at work, online learning platforms, and kahoot topics.
