One obstacle to goal setting is the fear of making a mistake. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Setting virtually any goal is better than drifting along with no clear direction. Following these principles, games in the workplace may be your catalyst for business success:
1. Clear Benchmarks — Score the most points, beat previous time, raise production, lower losses. Games in the workplace keep the whole organization focused on measurement against yesterday’s, last week’s or last month’s goal.
2. Clear Scorekeeping — Must be no doubt about how to keep score. Gameplay is objective, self-administered, peer-audited, and coach-promoted. Everyone understands the company benchmarks and what constitutes win or loss.
3. Frequent Feedback — Scores are public, visible, always known, and displayed in real-time. Allow for improvement during the game and mid-course correction during play rather than feedback at end when it is too late.
4. Choice — Players are empowered to leverage personal strengths. Rather than being managed in how to do something, rules include an effective end goal message which supports autonomy and personal satisfaction for employees.
5. Consistent Rules — Rules don’t change during play. Coaches (management) and players (employees) agreement on rules results in high levels of cooperation and teamwork.
The ultimate goal of the games is to empower workers and motivate them to solve job-related problems. When everyone understands how important their job is and knows the cost of failure and the value of success, a company has a foundation on which it can overcome obstacles, succeed, and grow. Humans want to do better, out-perform, and participate in winning. The workplace reward may be tangible or intangible, however the key is in setting clear goals and measurements.
