How Games Boost Soft Skills in the Workplace

by Scott Crabtree

How can you assess the business value of having fun in the workplace? Research shows that games boost soft skills, so here are some tips to measure the impact of playing games at work!

***Watch the video or continue reading below.***

 

Convince Your Boss that Games Matter

I hope I’ve convinced you in the last couple of videos that there’s solid scientific evidence that playing games at work is a great way to learn and grow.

I’m Scott Crabtree, Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Brain Science, and I’ve showed you that the research suggests games are great at helping us learn and grow in uniquely human skills that are less likely to be replaced by AI.

Some of you were convinced, but need help convincing your boss. Well, that’s what our book, All Work & Some Play: Future-Proof Your Career through Games, is largely about. It’s filled with solid scientific evidenceI mean pages and pages of scientific citations in the footnotes at the end of the book. (End notes at the end of the book? Whateverthey’re there. Lots of science.)

And furthermore, to convince business leaders, what do you need to do? You need to bring results. Look, I spent over six years at Intel, and the former CEO, Andy Grove, used to say, “Everyone has an opinion. Some people have data.”

So Bring the Data, Right?

Measure what matters to you. Maybe it’s communication. Maybe it’s creativity. Maybe it’s collaboration. Maybe it’s critical thinking.

But there are ways of measuring these “soft skills” that are, in fact, the hard stuff at work. If nothing else, measure those skills with a surveya self-assessment. And measure before and after you play great games like these (that are behind me at Guardian Games in Portland, Oregon), or video games, or party gamesso many games available for you to try.

Measure what mattersand if you do, you’ll get data. And if your data is anything like the scientific data that I’m aware of, you’re going to show that playing games at work is making a real, positive difference for you and your colleagues’ productivity and success.

I’d love to read your comments below. Thanks for watching.

Check out our new book, All Work & Some Play: Future-Proof Your Career through Games, now available on Amazon!

Scott Crabtree

As the Founder and Chief Happiness Officer at Happy Brain Science, Scott Crabtree empowers individuals and organizations to apply findings from cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology to boost productivity and happiness at work.


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