Counter Strike - Corona-Exit Strategy With Gamification
Drafting a correct roadmap out of the corona crisis is important. Have you done it yet? Have you thought how the new normal is communicated to the employees? Gamification is a splendid way to communicate what the new normal looks like in your company.
Repair the damage and prepare to rise like a winner
An invisible enemy has struck – with force. The causes of the strikes will be visible for a long time to come, but every company must look forward – as quickly as possible. Like everyone knows a crisis brings with it also new opportunities. This is how we’ve looked at the situation in our company.
Covid-19 has affected companies in exceptionally many ways. Besides lost financial security, people’s physical and mental sense of security have been shaken. When the acute crisis has passed it’s important to return at least part of that sense of security with practicalities. Clear practices and directions help here.
Safety is important but the practical side of safety is relatively easy to implement with organizing operations. One step harder is to estimate how the company’s market situation has changed. Is there still request for our products, do we have to adjust our product portfolio or conceptualize differently in the new situation? How to know where we should put effort in in the first place? Customers’ behaviour has changed and we have to be able to react to these changes. The list of things to analyse and to think about is long; competition, company operational culture, values, leadership, employee wellbeing and long term plans. Communicating to employees about the change is also essential.
Prioritizing and clarity of strategy are in the core of decision making.
Many international articles, i.e. https://hbr.org/2020/05/how-ceos-can-lead-selflessly-through-a-crisis emphasize the importance of exceptionally transparent and open communication about the decision-making principles. The problem is that there are more questions than answers, and this makes decision making difficult. It’s important for the management to collect employees’ experiences and feelings during the past couple of months and draw an overall situation analysis.
The role of two-way communication increases in a crisis. In many companies, layoffs have changed the atmosphere and practicalities, but it’s important to commit and reward those who actively work and clearly take things further. Interaction between management and employees is undeniably important and there should be natural channels for that.
Remote work has brought Teams and other video communication tools as a part of every day work. They don’t, however, enable equal communication. We know it well that the extroverts and space hugging individuals can easily demand also virtual space. In the new situation, it’s worth implementing methods that enable employees’ equality and innovativeness.
Gamification is a great method to lift up new innovations and practices.
Many teachers have told that gamification has enabled those normally quiet and withdrawing students to thrive in creativity and productivity. The same applies to employees. According to our experience gamification works both in individual level and team level. A game provides a safe and motivating framework for innovating and analysing. It enables an equal way to handle the issues at hand in your company and what’s best it does it in a way that makes two-way communication possible. A game can also provide a natural communication channel between management and employees.
If you're interested in the topic, visit our website seppo.io/business and learn more about how Seppo solution helps companies with gamification.