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measure, reward, and enhance: leverage adoption of IBM Connections by applying gamification with Kudos Badges

More and more organizations use IBM Connections as a social software platform to facilitate the 'corporate brain'. Organizations aim to make better use of the knowledge and skills of their employees with Connections. Thus, employees will have to effectively share knowledge and collaborate. Collaborating in a social platform is different than collaborating with other tools: in a more open manner, more transparent and interactive.

The implementation of a social platform itself does not change the routines and attitude / behaviour of employees. Implementation is often assumed to only contribute 10% to the success of developing into an organization where knowledge is shared openly and collaboration is efficient and effective. The other 90% of the success lies in its people, employees, and their adoption of the new platform.

How do you get people willing to change their behaviour and attitudes? How do you ensure that all employees understand the importance of the change? How will they learn how to collaborate? Attention to user adoption provides 90% of success!

Kudos Badges uses game mechanics to leverage the adoption of IBM Connections. With Kudos Badges game elements, employees are being stimulated to take part in, and learn how to effectively use the social tools of Connections. Kudos Badges is an excellent add-on for your user adoption strategy.

Kudos + YELLOW & BLUE e-office's YELLOW & BLUE vision

states that the existing (20th century) structures of organizations are insufficient to survive in the current economic climate (21st century). The multitude of processes is disastrous for creativity and innovation. Some form of structure is however necessary to make innovation possible.

Only the right mix of inventiveness (YELLOW) and structure (BLUE) ensures the innovative capacity of an organization. By using this mix the main asset of the organization, the corporate brain, can be fully utilized. This is necessary in the rapidly changing market to continue to offer the right products and services and hence secure the position of the organization.

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Blue systems are process-driven (BLUE). You must go through the steps to achieve the desired result. Think for example of a product order process or sending an invoice. This involves clearer and easily described steps.

IBM Connections mainly supports the creative character of work (YELLOW). The employee and / or organization is often not instantly able to use the existing tools to really collaborate in a social manner. Usual objectives for implementing IBM Connections are things such as: finding expertise, sharing knowledge and collaborating more effectively. An employee then may stop to wonder: how do I do that? Unlike Blue systems the steps to follow something like sharing knowledge are not so clear and also require a considerable change in behaviour and existing work routines.

Besides the deployment of new technology, there will be new and different workflows to be defined, together with the behaviour and routines of employees. Employees simply do not just change their ways. Changing behaviour is a gradual and often difficult process. Most employees do not instantly start blogging, do not take the time to fill in their profile, do not see the advantage of building and monitoring a network, and may want to work together, but preferably in a closed community.

Kudos Badges gradually pulls employees into a new way of working with Connections. And helps them to collaborate efficiently and transparent in order to improve the business objectives. Kudos makes employees more engaged.

Adoption of Connections is also about engagement. Users should be guided and seduced to do their daily work routine differently, using the various tools that Connections provides under one umbrella. For adoption e-office takes a scenario-based approach. Based on interviews, groups of users are guided to change the way they do their daily collaboration activities so that they can be more efficient and effective. Connections is used to perform these daily activities, so it is not a tool that is used in addition to the work, but it ís the work itself. And that work leverages the corporate brain.

how does Kudos Badges work? Kudos Badges works with points, badges, levels and

leaderboards. Points are awarded for various actions and Badges can be obtained. Leaderboards give users feedback on their activities compared to other colleagues. The Leaderboard shows the top 10 employees of the organization, within their network or within a community.

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How do you climb up in rank? Kudos Badges uses metrics to measure the activities of a user in IBM Connections.

For example, when an employee places a status update, he receives a Kudos Point. When he posts a Blog entry, the employee gets 5 Kudos Points. When someone recommends the blog entry, he gets 10 points! Because shared knowledge naturally becomes more valuable when it is appreciated by colleagues. When enough points for a given activity are achieved, then the employee receives a badge. There are an abundance of actions within your Connections platform, which could earn Kudos points. The employee is shown the following steps to earn more points and badges. This way, the employee explores the capabilities of the platform step-by-step and creates as he goes along.

The Kudos Leaderboard Widget is displayed on the Homepage. Moreover, the Kudos Leaderboard is visible within a community, where it displays the largest "contributor" within it. This will help to recognize the ambassadors for Communities.

objectives in line with business goals social collaboration isn't a goal in itself. It is a

way to achieve business goals and results such as improved customer service, better cooperation between departments, or finding the right knowledge and expertise. And you want these results in measurable KPIs.

Here, too, Kudos can help. With Badges and Ranks you define your values in collaboration. Employees are shown step by step instructions on how they can collaborate in a social manner. These are the KPIs. Kudos thus shows what behaviour and practices the organization considers to be important to achieve the business objectives. It encourages social collaboration and measures if the platform meets the desired objectives.

In addition to a standard set of metrics, the metrics can be integral to your business goals. You not only reward behaviour, but also encourage employees to properly use the Connections platform. It is possible to include other (internal) systems in Kudos badges measurement besides the standard set of metrics. Kudos can measure the behaviour of employees in other (non-Connections) software and reward it with its own Kudos Badge.

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not a game Although we are speaking of gamification, Kudos Badges is not a game! It is

about meaning, not flair. The goal is not to pursue Leaderboard points, but to achieve the business goals.

At the word gamification one might think of Gameboys, World of Warcraft, Wordfeud or Draw Something. But many of us have long been familiar with serious applications of gamification. A good example is LinkedIn. When you're on LinkedIn, you are seduced to expand your profile. The value of the platform increases when people actively participate. A well-filled profile is of more value to other members then a profile without a photo, without experience or recommendations.

why gamification? By adding game mechanics to non-gaming environments such as IBM

Connections, users are encouraged to embrace the new tool or users can be influenced how it should be used (adoption). Gamification makes connections more interesting because it encourages users to apply desired behaviour. Kudos encourages users by showing them the way to 'mastery' and 'autonomy'. The game uses mechanics that elaborate on the psychological predisposition of people to participate in playful activities.

With gamification, users can be seduced into performing 'boring' actions, actions which they have difficulty with, or they are unknown with. Think of filling out the profile in IBM Connections. It is important that you properly fill out your profile. But at the same time it is often omitted because there is no time for it, not appreciated, or no immediate reward in return (what's in it for me?).

Gamification is based on stimulation. Many people think winning or being the best is the main incentive for participating in games. But according to Jane McGonigal, gaming is mainly about doing hard work, going forward, being better, being part of something bigger or working towards a common goal. During the game we overcome obstacles and work towards a successful outcome through hard work. Doing so we are engaged, and experience all kinds of positive emotions and experiences. Working and learning becomes a positive experience, which we want to experience more. Kudos for IBM Connections can leverage active participation (engagement), resulting in higher ROI, information of higher quality and discovery learning (through serendipity colleagues learn more from each other).

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When gamification is applied in a proper way, you can seduce users to discover new features, to try out features, and let them discover the value of their work in IBM Connections. Users who are not yet accustomed to the social platform, and for example do not see how a Blog could be of value will not be inclined to do this without some stimulation.

What games do very well is encourage hard work. Kudos Badges provides step-by-step guidance and stimulation for someone to become more involved and actively participate in the platform. One of the key concepts in games, and therefore gamification is having the right challenge which can be attained by working hard. By taking small steps, starting with filling out your profile and expanding your network, it can help employees overcome cold feet. Or prevent an employee from being overwhelmed by the wide range of possibilities in Connections. Kudos Badges shows what small steps you may take at any time. And it also shows what the value of these steps is: of both the work in Connections itself as in measurable points. Kudos gives you the visual reward when you have finished the actions required (you receive a Badge, you get a notification in your newsfeed, it shows your position in the Leaderboard).

A user is constantly taken to a higher level, to continue, to do more. There is no failure. You can always try to get the points again. Failure is therefore just an incentive to work even harder!

measure, reward, stimulate People love progress! Badges are an indication of

achievement. Employees see what they have achieved and also how many points are needed for achieving the next badge level or how to climb-up in the Leaderboard. The reward system increases the employees' involvement. When an employee 'earns' a badge he is not just rewarded for the good work delivered, but is also shown how their work contributes to the business objectives.

key principles of gamification:

measure: set goals, levels, points and measure whether someone has achieved this

reward: give points and badges

send: indicate at what level a person is, what to do to get ahead, show the best

improve: specify what to do to get ahead, seduce to start using advanced features or show desired behaviour

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With game elements such as Points, Badges, Leaderboards - and don't forget fun - employees are motivated to work together towards a common goal and a desired result. While they work, employees are given visible rewards, get appreciation from colleagues and superiors, feel that they matter, feel to be part of bigger purpose, and other psycho-social rewards that can lead to the apex of Maslow's hierarchy (see below).

what motivates us? about stimulation and rewards by using incentives and

disincentives with Kudos badges individuals and groups are guided to a specific set of behaviour, which in turn positively influences a desired outcome (desired results / business objectives). When Kudos Badges is done seriously and is well deployed, it becomes an engagement mechanism for cooperative behaviour which can overcome the natural inability of people and companies to collaborate effectively towards a common goal.

Kudos Badges reasons from the human need for status and rewards. It responds to extrinsic rewards, such as winning and challenging, but also sharing knowledge, helping colleagues and being part of a bigger picture.

This is also clear in Maslow's pyramid (1943) which can be extended with Daniel Pink's vision from his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (2009). The top of Maslow's pyramid refers to 'self-actualization'. Dan Pink argues that modern society has arrived to this particular segment, in which we are primarily motivated by intrinsic motivation. These intrinsic motivators are also apparent in gamification and specifically Kudos Badges for IBM Connections.

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By 'doing work', employees will experience the value of the social platform. The need for extrinsic rewards will become less and subsequently turn into an intrinsic reward, such as gain knowledge, be good at your work, appreciation of your colleagues, beign part of a bigger purpose and have fun. Once the first steps in Connections are taken, employees are working and collaborating towards a common goal and they experience a sense of meaning and connectedness.

Points and Badges are extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards work very well in the short term and are therefore ideally suited to support early adoption of IBM Connections.

The effect of extrinsic rewards is not perpetual. The rewards that Kudos Badges offers are therefore intended to seduce an engaged employee: a committed and active participant in Connections. By doing the activity that is initially encouraged and rewarded, the employee creates something of real and long-term value: a real contribution in the platform that leverages the corporate brain! When the employee begins to realize these values, the extrinsic rewards become less important. The entire reward system becomes secondary and serves to reinforce the value that the employee creates, which then becomes the main motivator.

The long-term value created will (together with the secondary extrinsic reward) enhance the game activity. This creates a positive feedback loop that eventually transforms the gamified activity into something that is intrinsically motivating.

intrinsic long term reward

Game techniques

extrinsic reward

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Sources:

Michael Wu, Ph.D., 'The Magic Potion of Game Dynamics'

http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Magic-Potion-of-Game-Dynamics/ba-p/19260

Michael Wu, Ph.D , 'Gamification 101: The Psychology of Motivation'

http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/Gamification-101-The-Psychology-of-Motivation/ba-p/21864

Michael Wu, Ph.D , 'The Gamification Backlash + Two Long Term Business Strategies'

http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Gamification-Backlash-Two-Long-Term-Business-Strategies/ba-p/30891

Roland Hameeteman, 'Yellow & blue - De juiste mix van inventiviteit en structuur'

http://www.managementboek.nl/boek/9789047004486/yellow-blue-roland-hameeteman

Jane McGonigall, 'Reality Is Broken' (2011)

http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html

Tim Royle - Guest Blogger, Executive Director ISW, 'Gamification: Unlocking hidden collaboration potential'

https://www-304.ibm.com/connections/blogs/socialbusiness/entry/gamification_unlocking_hidden_collaboration_potential2?lang=nl

TED talk Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/nl/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html

Oscar Berg - Social Collaboration vs The Existing Communication Culture (14 December 2011)

http://www.thecontenteconomy.com/2011/12/social-collaboration-vs-existing.html

Sasja Beerendonk social business strategist and user adoption consultant

e sbe@e-office.com t @sbeerendonk W thoughtsoncollaboration.com

e-office www.e-office.com