Gamification in KM

These past few days, I have been thinking a lot about “gamification” in the context of knowledge management.

For the uninitiated, gamification is simply the process of taking game-like elements, like keeping score, competing with others (or a computer), rewards and prizes, and applying them to almost any activity outside of games.

One of the best examples of gamification these days is the Duolingo app, which has these challenges to ensure regular use and engagement. Spending more time on the app means spending more time learning a language; therefore, you master (or at least become fluent in) a language. The big idea here is “engagement.”

As a knowledge manager, one of my biggest challenges has been keeping my users engaged in the system I’ve built. The “system” here could be a shiny new portal, an app I’ve made, or something simpler, like a weekly knowledge/insight/best practices sharing session. It could even be just sharing a how-to document! How does one incentivise knowledge sharing?

Let’s face it: most people who interact with knowledge management programs already have a day job. These jobs take up most of their time and come with their own set of goals, deliverables, and the dreaded three-letter acronym – KPI. Why would they want to engage with KM? We must answer the “What’s in it for me?” question.

Now, imagine a system that incentivises every interaction you have with it. You collect points every time you engage with the KM platform, contribute content, rate and review others’ content, participate in a discussion, and host a webinar or training session. You can choose not to do any of it, but it’d be cool if you did, right?

One of my former employers (Accenture) did this very well. Any interaction with their knowledge base (KX or Knowledge Xchange) earned you points. There was a prominent leaderboard on the homepage and, if I remember correctly, quarterly rewards for those who were on top for a certain period. This was more than a decade ago. I am unaware of how this system has evolved, but I am still waiting to see a better implementation of gamification in the KM context.

In my previous post, I discussed how many organisations fall into the trap of equating KM with technology. The same is true of gamification. It’s not a software program or a module you add to a platform. For your KM program to succeed, your gamification strategy should always be about people, processes, and collaboration.

So, let’s reframe gamification for KM based on these three pillars:

People – As I mentioned, we must answer the “what’s in it for me?” question. Understanding the intrinsic motivators of your audience is essential. What would make someone spend an extra ten or fifteen minutes commenting or answering a question in your Yammer group?

There can be many answers, but social recognition is a potent motivator. A system that rewards users with badges might help. I highly recommend that you look at how Stack Overflow does this. You could even have challenges encouraging people to solve problems and share knowledge with the organisation.

Of course, there can be variations to this. However, the idea is to understand what makes certain people click, and social recognition is one of them.

Processes – You need processes to ensure people don’t game the system (pun intended!) You could have a situation where a high amount of low-quality content is uploaded to your knowledgebase, which not only reduces the overall quality of the knowledgebase but also can overload the system and make it sluggish.

The solution could be to gamify the content verification process itself! Users can earn points by reviewing and validating shared knowledge through upvotes or a star rating system. Reward people who are active in this space as well. Design your KM metrics to identify where old content or knowledge is actively updated and reward this behaviour.

Collaboration – The best way to gauge how a person or a team collaborates is to check their participation in discussion boards. You can also create communities of practice based on someone’s interest or expertise and reward contributors there. This is a great way to encourage inter-departmental collaboration and a potent tool to break silos in organisations.

A word of caution, however. This requires more than just one team or a piece of software. Gamification is a means to an end, and organisations must be clear about what that end needs to be. The “build and they will come” approach will not work.

Organisations need to set clear objectives for gamification, create a safe space for collaboration, and, more importantly, be open to feedback (more on this in a different post).

What examples of gamification do you see at your workplace? Share in the comments!