Enhancing Project Management with Gaming Insights: A Study of Collaboration and Motivation
This study explores how gaming insights can improve project management practices, focusing on the collection, organization, and utilization of project information. It examines the alignment of individual team member motivation with project goals, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and effective communication in complex, rapidly evolving project environments. Insights from interviews with IT project managers and team members reveal current challenges and solutions in managing project information effectively.
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metaPlay heroes. monsters. project managers. UC Berkeley School of Information Masters Final Project Spring 2011 J.J.M. Ekaterin Under Advisement of: C. Cheshire
Not Just Addictive Fun... Immersion, engagement, imagination Enduring psychological behaviors and patterns But not... Entertainment computing Gaming structure Gaming mechanics Specific technological implementation
Games and Work This Study... Often...
Collaboration at Work: Project Management Complex, rapidly evolving environments On-the-fly decisions and evaluating metrics from multiple sources Extensive risk management Schedule, prioritize, plan tasks to meet long-term goals Highly collaborative Extensive communications
Focus of This Study Can gaming insights enhance project management practices? How do project participants collect, organize, and use large amount of project information? How to align individual team member motivation with project goals?
Method Interviews Research Project managers and team members Strongly IT project driven roles Interviewee choice at convenience 8 respondents, 5 follow-ups Approx. 30 90 mins depending on availability Recordings, transcriptions, hand- written notes, post-interview observations Internal IT organizations: 5-35 team size within enterprises of a few thousand employees Ludology Information tracking and statistics Individual motivation Collaboration and virtual teams IT Project Management Program management and portfolio tools Work motivation
Interview Results How do project managers collect, organize, and use large amount of project information? "we don't really have any project tracker" "we describe it as the dashboard... all the projects, how they are ranked, what we're working on... put in front of the executive... tell us which things to do" "that's geared towards senior management" Current Solutions Dedicated resources collecting information and generating reports for management decision makers Project managers enters information directly into report templates Frequent meetings Shortcomings Manually intensive input Difficult to ensure timeliness of information Focused on serving management decision makers
Insights From Gaming Information Management Tools - Dashboards Games' Response to Issue Multi-channel, multi-directional information flow Views for leaders and individuals Fully-integrated system Collecting information through interactions with systems When Applied to Projects Information exposure and control Portable information for individuals Integration enabling collect-as-you-go
Interview Results How do project managers align individual team member motivation with project goals? "My performance assessments do not line up with project goals per se... so my supervisor always asks 'are there anything you would like to add?'" "when I have a personal interest in the stuff I'd been working on... it could be a subject matter I'm interested in pursuing or knowing more about or a skill I'd like to practice" "just go back and rewrite the objectives when it comes time for reviews" Current Solutions Shortcomings Disconnect between project and individual goals Higher chances for project failures
Insights From Gaming Connecting project and individual goals Games' Response to Issue Reputation building tools Statistics transparency and reliability Widely accessible individual characteristics, accomplishments, personal histories When Applied to Projects Reputation management - implicit reputation-building is sufficient: Motivated by Sense of achievement Tangible rewards Learning/Polishing skills and capabilities Selectively-accessible individual information for moderated team recruitment
Additional Insights Building professional narratives Deeply personal stories Individual story-telling as a means for constructing professional identities "be able to give a very brief vignette of my experience to illustrate" ! ... ! ... "If you get to know somebody, they'll start to tell their stories. That's just the way they talk about themselves."
Summary Key Entry Points for Applying Principles Work Games Organization and Flow Structural Design of Tasks Personalization Narrative & Character-Building Engagement Immersion & Rewards Leadership Development, Communication Tools Virtual Teams Information Management Information & Statistics
Many Thanks to... Questions? Respondents Advisor Friends I-School comrades Thank You!
