Can there possibly be any role for HALO at work?
We've known for a while that some thought leading companies have used simulations to improve managers' skill. Nortel used a proprietary simulation of the carrier and enterprise businesses to teach middle managers the nature of the business. The US Army uses first person shoot'em ups to train people in house clearing disciplines. The NFL uses Madden to help players develop a sense of the broader game going on around them. Colleges and high schools use stock market simulations to teach lessons about the market. These are of the class of computer-enabled practice sessions, which enhance participant reflexes (by practicing them), intuition and discipline.
According to PCWorld , gaming is a growing phenomenon as a method for teambuilding, encouraging employee alertness and motivating and rewarding employees. Multiplayer games can build teamwork and competition between departments deepening the cameraderie of work which might reduce the boredom, stress and increase the commitment to success.
Other examples cited by PCWorld were the use of games to keep night staff alert. And the use of points based on work tasks completed to earn the right to play. This would be most appropriate in boring problem solving assignments where the game becomes the goal, and the job tasks the necessary tasks to complete the goal.
The idea has got to be to create an environment like professional baseball where employees go to 'play' baseball, not 'work' baseball. This kind of emotional transformation of work into play seems to logically reap great rewards for productivity, but we will have to measure it to be sure. Expect a new study coming soon on Play at Work.
