May 15, 2015
If you read about contact center innovations, you’ve probably come across the concept of gamification and its prevalence in the field.
Managers are always looking for creative ways to get more productivity out of their staff, and contact center gamification is a great motivator. It isn’t just about reaching specific targets, it’s also used for team building and retention. Nate Brown wrote an insightful article about gamification on the ICMI website called, How to Creatively Motivate and Retain Employees in the Service Center. He offers a great look inside the concept of gamification.
How to Win the Game
Brown starts by offering a definition of contact center gamification. He cites Robin Jenkins, “applying the same principles that have always inspired people – goals, status and rewards – to motivate people to accomplish high-value actions.” The goal is to provide a method of tapping into what motivates your employees, raising them to the next level.
Contact Center Gamification Rules
Gamification is not as simple as buying a program and declaring the job complete. As Brown points out, to be successful, you need to personalize the system to your employees with what motivates them. He also mentions, even within the same organization, programs should vary based on the goal.
He goes on to offer some lessons learned in his experiences:
- Know Your Audience – The program should not be created solely by management; include the people who are participating. It’s important to figure out what your employees’ interests are and what motivates them.
- Competitiveness vs Collaboration – Brown shows us that different techniques may work better for different groups. While sales teams may benefit from a leaderboard style competition, other groups may thrive in a collaborative approach that cultivates individual actions that lead to success for the team and for customers.
- Always Mix It Up – You can’t come up with a program and then just let it run. You need to pay attention, make sure the program is motivating the team, and if not, it should be replaced or changed. Brown equates creating a gamification program with being a writer on the show LOST. It is important to take your team on a journey that keeps them interested for the long term. If you lose interest in the program, it is likely that your employees will as well.
Pieces of the Puzzle
Brown also outlined what has worked well for his team:
- Wheel of Happiness – This is a core part of his program. They have a wheel that has different rewards on it, some individual and some for the team. Each week the team selects a star performer, and they get to spin the wheel.
- Lego Feedback – Employees are given a base upon which they can build a custom tower. When positive feedback is received, employees are rewarded with unique shapes and colors of Legos. The result is a unique expression from each employee of their success.
- Support Film Festival – Have your employees’ team up and create funny videos. Brown mentions this is a great team building exercise and is useful to educate new hires on the organization’s culture.
A Winning Team
By working with members of your contact center, you can create a great program that motivates agents and leads to a better customer experience. The metrics that are inherently available lend themselves to a baseline for creating competition.
Are you interested in more information about Contact Center Gamification? Contact Mindsight, as we can help you figure out what program will work best for your team. We’re ready to start playing!
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