- Key insight: Discover how blending tech-driven games with team rituals strengthens manager-employee communication.
- Expert quote: "Put connection first to increase loyalty and productivity," says VLTED CEO Paul Staubi.
- Supporting data: Only one-third of U.S. employees are actively engaged, per Gallup.
- Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
We're all familiar with the phrase, "Work hard, play hard," but what happens when leaders combine the two?
This is the idea behind tech-based team-building games created by VLTED and Moosylvania. VLTED's platform gives employees opportunities to participate in
As technology has taken over the workplace, both organizations hope to use an element of fun to spark communication,
"A lot of [work-based] technology is about work first, and then a little connection — we're the opposite," says Paul Staubi, VLTED's founder and CEO. "We want to make the connection first. When you have that with your coworker and your manager, you're going to be more loyal to the employer, you're going to be more productive and you're not going to look to leave."
Research from Gallup shows efforts to improve these areas can't come soon enough: Only about a third of U.S. employees are actively engaged in the workplace, and a review of disengaged workers' impact on a global scale revealed $8.8 trillion in annual losses.
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How gamification boosts employee engagement
Giving people a fun way to communicate gets them out of their shell, says Andrew Cohen, president of Moosylvania. When playing Collabsurdity, all but one person, the judge, draw cards that list different trends, celebrities, famous brands, and marketing tactics, and use as many as possible to form the best collaborative marketing campaign. The game serves as an icebreaker, or as a warm up for meetings, engaging new employees and removing any hierarchy within teams that might keep people from contributing, says Cohen.
"Brainstorming and creativity is really when fun happens [because] everyone loves good ideas," he says. "Maybe people are not super creative or don't believe in themselves, but [with] this game [they're] given a prop, given a nudge, and you can make something really fun, really fast."
Collabsurdity's digital option gives remote employees a chance to interact as well. People write down their strategies rather than share them aloud, and the platform sends a summary of everyone's ideas to the host at the end. When people get comfortable voicing their ideas and opinions in a low-pressure environment, it bolsters their communication comfort level and helps leaders get to know them, Cohen says.
"I love getting to play with my whole staff, because I get to see who they are, how they think and how confident they are, or where they need to build confidence," he says. "It's learning about people and putting them together to see how they can grow or where their skills are."
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Forming bonds, feeling loyal
When employees have access to VLTED, managers can create their own team communities, discover what their team members are interested in such as sports or entertainment, and engage them with questions that will generate interest, like, "Who will make it to this year's Super Bowl" or "Who will win best actor at tomorrow's Oscar Awards?" Leaders can ask multiple questions, ask for predictions, create polls, spur discussion, and in the mix, throw in a work-related question or training tip, or shoutout — called a cheers point — for a job well done.
"A manager can give cheers points for whatever reason, whether you bet you bake the best brownies in the office, or whether you've shown up 30 days in a row on time, or whether you've led the region in sales," says Staubi.
Unlike most team-building and connection efforts, the VLTED app can be a part of employees' every day, only requiring a few minutes of time by both managers and their team members. The cost for employers comes out to about $25 per employee per year, giving it good ROI potential.
"When we influence someone to become engaged, to make a friend and especially feel like they matter to their manager, our ROI is enormous," Staubi says. "If you can save one employee out of every 750, that pays for VLTED."
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Creating common ground, opening up the door for communication and offering acknowledgements to employees are good ways to boost morale, create stronger relationships, generate creativity and improve retention.
"Belonging and engagement should become more of a metric than a perk," Staubi says. "[When this exists,] you're going to want to stay and you're going to do a better job."
