Social Games at Work Increase Productivity!

While reading through different venture capital firms’ blog posts, I came across a blog about the engagement in social games and their Appointment Mechanics, or at what intervals the social games call for the players’ engagement. This blog grabbed my attention because it deviated from the typical VC posts that discuss securing venture funding or creating competitive advantage for you company. I was surprised to find that the social game developers designed the two hour engagement interval specifically for the social gamers that PLAY at WORK. This made me really curious, or should I say Googleous, to google for any research on how the social games affect work place productivity. Interestingly, I found several researches on this subject.Contrary to the common belief, studies found that spending about an hour of your daily work time engaging in social media, games, or social games actually increases the workforce productivity by 9%. The reason is that humans cannot maintain continuous focus and concentration on complicated tasks for a long period of time, and be effective doing it. Social games and social media play the role of the coffee break. It gives the brain the necessary time to rest and refocus on the tasks at hand. Also, the studies found that games at work increase employees’ moral and job satisfaction, and decreases absenteeism.

Naturally, there are caveats to the benefits of social gaming at work. The increase in job productivity was observed only in the group of employees that used the social media in moderation, or less that 20% of their work hours. Also, in some cases the social networks could jeopardize the employees’ job security, as large percentage of employers monitor the employees’ use of the Internet in the office and follow their activities in the social media. For example, I am curious how your peers will perceive that your lost cow adoption post on Facebook coincides with your company’s board meeting, especially when you are one of the board members.