**By  [Alastair McFarlane](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alastairmcfarlane/) – Head of Operations at Play**

It was hard to miss the fact that WhatsApp announced changes to their Terms of Use and Privacy Policy recently. Just about every news outlet carried an alarming headline warning that your private information and (depending on who you ask) your messages were about to be shared with WhatsApp’s parent company, Facebook (maybe you’ve heard of it?).

Much of the immediate concern is potentially unfounded – WhatsApp hasn’t said they’re going to share your messages with Facebook, nor have they dropped their commitment to the so-called ‘end-to-end encryption’ of those messages. However, there are several valid concerns with these new changes, particularly when they’re considered as a part of the overall data privacy landscape. 

**In this post, I’ll examine some of these concerns, as well as the larger landscape and what, if anything, this means for businesses.**

### What were the changes?

The detail of the changes is a lot smaller than some media outlets would have you think. [WhatsApp’s own summary of changes](https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/updates/key-updates) state that the changes cover three areas:

- Additional Information On How We Handle Your Data
- Better Communication With Businesses
- Making It Easier To Connect

What’s more, those of us lucky enough to be in WhatsApp’s ‘EEA region’ only get the first two updates – the third, and most troubling for many, doesn’t apply to the EEA. 

### Should users be concerned?

In the wake of the popular reaction, WhatsApp has scrambled to remind us of their commitment to the encryption of our messages and posted to Twitter an infographic stating everything they don’t do. However, I do think there is cause for concern for any user conscious of their privacy and security online, for several reasons.

Firstly, while WhatsApp’s messages and calls have been end-to-end encrypted (meaning that only you and the recipient of a message have a readable copy of that message) since 2016, we only have the company’s word that this is the case. Personally, I would like to believe this – I’m a big fan of the ‘Signal protocol’ which they implemented in 2016 – but there are [multiple accounts](https://www.carlthompson.co.uk/further-reading-blogs/2018/7/5/are-facebook-or-instagram-reading-my-whatsapp-messages) online from people who would swear blind that they’ve received ads or friend suggestions on Facebook as a result of discussions they had on WhatsApp. 

Secondly is the question of what Whatsapp can and cannot do (versus what they do and do not). 

In 2018, as GDPR came into force across the EU, Facebook moved all non-European users away from their existing jurisdiction in Ireland, to the jurisdiction of their Californian entity, creating disparate sets of terms. This should sound familiar – it’s very similar to WhatsApp’s dual-region approach, [above](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-privacy-eu-exclusive/exclusive-facebook-to-put-1-5-billion-users-out-of-reach-of-new-eu-privacy-law-idUSKBN1HQ00P). The company insisted at the time that they would continue to apply the same privacy protections everywhere despite this change, but doing so allows them the space to treat the two sets of users differently. As of December 2020, [Facebook stated](https://diginomica.com/facebook-says-it-has-move-uk-user-data-california-and-away-gdpr-becauseer-brexit) that they were moving responsibility for all UK users to their Californian entity, in response to Brexit. It’s not hard to see why they’d want to do this; UK law will continue to track GDPR for the immediate future, but making this change allows Facebook to easily exempt users from the technical GDPR controls they have in place, and be ready to exploit any change (or loophole) in the UK legislation.

Alongside this, [Facebook publicly stated in 2019](https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/25/18197228/facebook-instagram-whatsapp-merge-messaging-services-mark-zuckerberg) that they’re working to unify the ecosystems of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. The [iOS Appstore privacy labels](https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2021/01/12/you-can-use-whatsapp-after-facebook-apple-imessage-and-signal-backlash-but-change-this/?sh=39067acf798f) show us that the self-stated data that each of these apps collects is very different, so how long WhatsApp’s list will remain as short as it remains to be seen.

![https _specials-images.forbesimg.com_imageserve_5ffd7c23feb0f99b9b594e57_960x0.jpg?fit=scale.jpg](/uploads/https_specials_images_forbesimg_com_imageserve_5ffd7c23feb0f99b9b594e57_960x0_jpg_fit_scale_1a3e30c4b2.jpg)

### Facebook’s track record

It’s all well and good insisting that messages remain secret, that UK users will stay under the EEA region terms, and that WhatsApp (or Facebook) care about your privacy. However, Facebook’s track record in such matters isn’t pretty.

In 2018, the introduction of GDPR meant that Facebook had to collect updated consent from a huge number of its users. TechCrunch reported on this process at the time, and found multiple ways in which it was clear that user safety and privacy weren’t exactly Facebook’s number one concern, in a [‘following the letter not the spirit’ approach to GDPR](https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/17/facebook-gdpr-changes/):

> 'with a design that encourages rapidly hitting the "Agree" button, a lack of granular controls, a laughably cheatable parental consent request for teens and an aesthetic overhaul of Download Your Information that doesn’t make it any easier to switch social networks, Facebook shows it’s still hungry for your data.'


Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have not always been entirely honest when it comes to talking about how they handle users’ data. In 2019, TechCrunch reported that Facebook had admitted to a US Senator that 'reporting around this project was not entirely accurate' when they had responded to a media furore over their reported collection of [data relating to thousands of teenaged users](https://www.techradar.com/news/facebook-reveals-it-misreported-number-of-teen-users-of-research-vpn);

> 'At the time we ended the Facebook Research App on Apple’s iOS platform, less than 5% of the people sharing data with us through this program were teens. The analysis shows that the number is about 18%  when you look at the complete lifetime of the program and also add people who had become inactive and uninstalled the app.'

In 2018, [the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/20/facebook-violating-privacy-mark-zuckerberg) ran a lengthy and fairly blunt opinion piece, slamming Facebook for their consistent disregard for the privacy of its users. They argued that Facebook has a vested interest in continuing to erode user privacy for the purpose of continuing to grow its platform and to spread the liability for that erosion far and wide before anyone takes notice.

In researching this post, I came across an example of Facebook’s so-called ‘privacy settings’ being downright inaccurate; an [interesting Medium post](https://grumpinout.medium.com/how-facebook-lies-about-their-privacy-settings-667cfa5598d0) detailing a way to discover a Facebook user’s name and profile image, by using their email address or phone number – even when their account settings supposedly prohibit people from doing so. When challenged on this, Facebook responded that the 'attack' was in fact intended functionality and that they had no intention of altering the behaviour.

Every individual has to draw their own conclusions and decide their own level of comfort. **After all, what’s the point in 'quitting WhatsApp' if you’re going to continue to put all of your personal data on Facebook or Instagram?** With the examples above in mind, I personally question whether Facebook – and WhatsApp and Instagram – can really be trusted with my personal data, and to do what they say with it.


### When it’s free, you are the product

Fundamentally, the storm over WhatsApp’s changes and the examples given above are part of a larger conversation. It’s become clear over the last few years that we, as users, have to take responsibility for our own data privacy, and how much exposure we’re willing to risk. Services like Facebook, Gmail, and many others offer us fantastic products and services in exchange for the data we provide. Let the Waze GPS app (owned by Google) know the location of your car and your destination, and you’ll get real-time traffic information and accident reports garnered from other Waze users doing the same thing. Give Spotify your email address and all of your music tastes, and it will recommend other music you might like and help you stay up to date with the latest releases. Let Google Photos scan your images and perform facial recognition on them, and you get a well-organised photo album, backed up online, searchable by location, time, and even the person or objects in the photos. 

As long ago as 2010, Bruce Schneier stated [at RSA Europe](https://www.information-age.com/facebook-is-deliberately-killing-privacy-says-schneier-1290603/);

>'Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re Facebook’s customer, you’re not – you’re the product. Its customers are the advertisers.'  

In giving away some data, we get convenience or utility. This tradeoff is present in virtually every 'free' product we use online today – but users of such services should assess how comfortable they are with the particular trade-off being made. Businesses must make money, and we should consider the business model of a service that we choose to use. It may be that you feel you have nothing to hide, but there are plenty of examples of freely-available data being used for purposes other than those the users intended: 

- [Airlines or flight search engines](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304458604577488822667325882) have been suspected of offering higher prices to users using a more expensive brand of computer or living in a more affluent area (whether they do or not, this is absolutely possible)
- Landlords have conducted [‘social media credit checks’]( https://foxnomad.com/2016/12/01/airfare-booking-sites-offer-different-prices-based-device-browser-youre-using/), using potential tenants’ [social media](https://www.theverge.com/2016/6/10/11903082/landlord-social-media-credit-check. ) to check they’re the ‘right sort of people’

As users, we should consider the business model of a service we choose to give data to. Would you rather give your contacts and private messages to WhatsApp, who are ad-supported and owned by Facebook, or Signal, the not-for-profit foundation funded by donations? Or perhaps, you’d prefer Threema, another privacy-focused messenger which charges a small fee for the app and is funded by this and their ‘for business’ service. With emails, should you choose Google Mail, hosted by the largest online advertising company in the world, Microsoft Outlook, hosted by a company who make their money selling games consoles, cloud services and office software, or something like ProtonMail, who provide both free and paid plans and bet on users caring enough about privacy to upgrade to the paid versions? We can only make our own decisions on these questions, and check periodically if we’re still happy with the state of our chosen provider.

### What does this mean for business?

How does where your employees choose to share their data impact your business? In most cases, probably not a lot. However, it’s worth considering the potential impact on hackers’ ability to conduct email phishing or social engineering attacks on you and your employees, as well as thinking about the impact of data privacy compromises on an individual’s wellbeing outside of work.

If you want to do something about it, the obvious answer is to include guidance in corporate policies – whether it’s encouraging good data hygiene in employees’ personal lives regarding password management or providing lists of approved and non-approved software and services. Employers have a responsibility to look after their employees at work, but when many businesses take up the mantle of including personal wellbeing, perhaps we should consider support for data privacy issues (and the potential fallout when things go wrong).

If you do decide to mandate or ban the use of certain services, be sure that you do provide or recommend a sufficient alternative. At Play, we recently trialled a switch from Slack to Discord, but soon realised that although the service provided was great for end-users, the management and compliance controls weren’t up-to-scratch for business content. I still hear people saying 'Discord was better', but this all too often masks the larger conversation: is what we have good enough, and if not, why not?

----------------------------


Foremost, I believe the best thing employers can do to both support employees in today’s online world and to look out for their own reputation, is to have sufficient and constructive security awareness programs. Not just monthly or quarterly PowerPoint decks of stock content, (although with the right content and a healthy surrounding discussion these can be valuable) but be more proactive – write blogs, short updates or announcements on relevant and newsworthy topics in privacy and security, recommend podcasts or new websites where employees can find an informed and useful take on such subjects, and help your employees to be good cyber citizens. Good communication is paramount when ensuring we as businesses are confident about the protection of data and our people's online safety.

[Follow Alastair on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alastairmcfarlane/)

Changes to WhatsApp and what privacy means for businesses 

**By  [Harry Lynn-Evans](https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrylynnevans/) – Head of Product at Play**

At Play, we keep our eyes peeled for playful experiences and trends that separate excellent products from mediocre ones, so internally we share cool apps and fun websites to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. 

To kick start 2021, we’ve collated our gamification highlights from last year –  covering the products and trends that we’ve seen make a splash. Some are new, whilst others were made before 2020, but have had their moment and deserve a mention. 

You might not think of these as gamified products, but we think about gamification a little differently from others. Enjoy! 



## [Couch to 5k](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-you-couch-to-5k/id1082307672)

![couch25k.png](/uploads/couch25k_6ac729ad95.png)
 
This is an old-ish concept that’s been a game-changer for so many non-runners during a ridiculously tough year. It does gamification well by setting clear goals, rewarding small steps and providing the tools and guidance to help anyone get going. 

**Behaviour**: get people to start running.

**Trend**: finite experiences that aim for an achievable goal.



## [Less](https://lessdrinks.com/)

![less.png](/uploads/less_e182661c67.png)
 
The delightful sailing animations make this easy-to-use alcohol tracker feel so much more than a simple drinks diary.  Using animation and imagery, the app makes a boring task and a not-so-exciting-goal, really speak to the heart. 

**Behaviour**: drink less alcohol.

**Trend**: responsive animations that reflect the user’s experience.



## [Capture](https://www.thecapture.club/)

![capture.png](/uploads/capture_c08b2c83e4.png)
 
The climate crisis is sadly in full swing, and we need everyone to make changes to avoid the worst-case scenario, which Capture helps users do. By turning difficult actions into simple steps, then simplifying behaviours into easy to understand metrics, Capture helps steer people towards a greener lifestyle, and also links their carbon offsetting directly to their behaviour. 

**Behaviour**: reduce carbon footprint.

**Trend**: gamified incentives to reduce carbon emissions.



## [Figma Ninja](https://www.figma.com/community/file/769694576496801916)

![figmaNinja.png](/uploads/figma_Ninja_4b1d1cd867.png)

Collaboration tools are all the rage in remote working, but learning new tools (like learning new games) can be hard, boring or just never happen properly. Figma Ninja is a plug-in ‘tutorial’ for the Figma design tool that takes you through a witty series of steps, making you actually want to learn all the tricks that most people take years to pick up.  

**Behaviour**: learn the tricks of a complex tool.

**Trend**: witty storytelling to onboard users onto complex tools and processes.



## [Freetrade](https://freetrade.io/)

![Freetrade.png](/uploads/Freetrade_448e47f641.png)

2020 has been a boom for trading apps as more and more people are able to quickly access the market and invest their cash on the go. Games are amazing at displaying complex metrics and to motivate users through feedback loops, a similar feel to apps like Freetrade that simplify complex market data to give traders greater control over their finances. 

**Behaviour**: manage your investments responsibly.

**Trend**: real-time insights for accessible investing.



## [Zoom](https://zoom.us/)

![zoom.png](/uploads/zoom_704025050a.png)

Zoom could well have been the word (not just app) of the year. A big part of Zoom’s success is its excellent usability, but there’s a lot to be said about the fun of customising the experience, which lets people goof around and have a bit of much needed fun while providing a stable and consistent video conferencing service.

**Behaviour**: communicating in your style.

**Trend**: configurable features in work tools to allow self-expression.



## [Tik Tok](https://www.tiktok.com/en/ )

![tiktok.png](/uploads/tiktok_288b514ca3.png)

Tik Tok has been a big mobile entertainment player in 2020 (sorry Quibi). Whether you love the content, or think it should be banned, you can’t deny its outrageous success. Gamification and personalisation go hand-in-hand, and Tik Tok blows every other app out of the water when it comes to its recommendation algorithm, which quickly (and unsettlingly) learns from every video what type of Tik Toker you are.

**Behaviour**: personalise your experience. 

**Trend**: hyper-engaging recommendation engines that learn with very little input.



## [Drops](https://languagedrops.com/)

![drops.png](/uploads/drops_02545e0fee.png)
 
Gamification and language learning go hand-in-hand (think Duolingo), but Drops’ $50M acquisition by Kahoot last year stands out during the EdTech explosion of 2020.  A smooth and stylish interface that is delightful to use makes learning a language feel more interactive than anything else. 

**Behaviour**: learn a language.

**Trend**: Simple, animated interfaces that create unique experiences.



--------------------------------------------


Each one of these products is great at driving specific behaviours or delivering particular experiences, and the big thing they all share is the fact they’ve all been built with the Player in mind. 

2021 will bring a heap of new tech that’ll aim to help our new COVID world, and the products that succeed will likely be leveraging some of the trends above alongside a truly Player-first mindset
 


8 top gamification highlights of 2020 

The Global Innovation Challenge is a showcase of PwC’s most innovative commercial solutions that solve wicked problems for both PwC clients and society as a whole. With a call to action to its 280,000+ employees across 155 countries, the challenge looks to uncover, test and showcase PwC’s most innovative early-stage solutions and services.

This year the challenge set new records with 353 entries from 48 countries. And after many competitive rounds, Perform Plus has been voted PwC’s most innovative, tech-enabled commercial solution 🎉.

Since 2018, Players and PwC-ers have worked together as a single Perform Plus team, brainstorming new roadmap features, solving wicked design problems, delivering high-velocity development sprints and pioneering how the big and the small collaborate. Together we continue to explore motivation and behaviour change mechanics that drive positive workplace outcomes at scale, for both businesses and their people.

This award has again shown the effectiveness of the Play product-partnership model. The partnership offers a unique experience, creating a single team by merging the best from big and small, who share a space and culture, optimised to deliver innovative solutions to some of the most wicked problems 🛰.

This isn’t the first and most definitely won't be the last of the awards Perform Plus will bring home. A big congratulations to everyone on the team!

Learn more about [Perform Plus here.](https://www.play-consult.co.uk/work/2)


Perform Plus wins PwC's Global Innovation Challenge 

**By  [Matthew Osborne](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-osborn-0060849a/) – QA Engineer at Play**

If you’re a kid making a PowerPoint to get a puppy, or at work going through procurement for a tech vendor — we’re always evaluating. We think about price, value, time and benefit, but not necessarily in any order. We can end up abandoning our cart because building a mental business case is too hard, or we end up buying the wrong thing.

When we’re afraid of making the wrong choice we spend too much time analysing every possibility. When we’re convinced we know with our gut what the right answer is, we don’t consider all the alternatives.

We have to avoid the analysis paralysis and the best way to do this is by keeping it simple. ‘The business case’ can be as easy as writing a list of pros and cons, but it’s important to recognise which features are red herrings!

I’m fairly good at buying things, which makes it sound like I’m constantly on a shopping spree, but the truth is I don’t like wasting my money, or my company’s. Usually, I’m buying technology, so I try to think about the whole service offered and if any of that is actually useful to me:

### 1 - Support

Firstly, do you need it? If you know you’ll need zero support, there’s no need to be paying a premium. Secondly, are they skilled enough to give support? You might be comparing a customer service department to a user forum. The key here is to question it, understand what the support looks like and what the support is like elsewhere.

### 2 - Flexibility

Sometimes you don’t want to subscribe to a 5-year contract. I’ve always been a buy-once type of person for hardware, favouring subscription models for software. When it comes to work this can be a little different, think about how your need might grow. If you think you might need to upgrade in future, make sure this is an option.

### 3 - Free trials

My advice here isn’t to do a free trial, it’s to do a free trial seriously. Use the hell out of it! The problem with free trials or pilots is that it’s going to be difficult to show value. This is because of two things: 1) you won’t use it in the same way as if you had paid for it. If you spend a small fortune on a video game, you’re sure as heck going to play it. If you get a free game, you won’t feel bad if it gathers dust; 2) you’re only invested for a limited time. If you know you’ve got the tool for life, you’re already thinking of how to integrate it into your workflow and really make it work. It’s unlikely you’ll fall in love within 30 days as you did with Netflix.

### 4 - Added Extras

If you’re not going to use it, it’s not an added extra. You might see a bunch of features on a providers website and think “great, copy and paste that to the pros list”. But more features doesn’t mean better business case.

### 5 - Beware of the upgrades

I always take it as a good sign when a provider will let you use a downgraded version of their tool, especially when you’re just figuring things out. I’m thinking of Charles Proxy and OBS here. I use their Lite versions because I have everything I need, and the rest is just excess for now.

### 6 - Do more than Google

Unboxing videos are great on Youtube, and if you’re able to, find demos or user-guides. Try to see how you’d use it as if you were an expert. Try not to rely on social media too much, there’s a lot of sponsored content out there. Look for independent user reviews, it might sound shallow but well-written criticism is super helpful.

----------------------------

So, putting this into practice I’ll tell you about a recent personal purchase. Internet (expecting groans here). I went with a provider that was a reasonable price but I could upgrade if I need to, no smoke and mirror bolt-ons I’d never use, and had great reviews online. Buuut, then it stopped working.

Nowadays we shop around because there are providers willing to compete on customer service, price, and frankly, being decent human beings. They’re helping us to build the list of pros and cons, we just need to select what to use for our business case.

The more simple we make it, the easier it is to part with our money and not feel like we’ve been done over

6 top tips on your next tech purchase 

The role of gamification and its potential to improve engagement is not new. In 2013, in his book Loyalty 3.0: How to Revolutionize Customer and Employee Engagement with Big Data and Gamification, Rajat Prahia explained how gamification can play a key role in tapping into the core motivations of people, thereby helping companies create the type of engagement and excitement about work we all seek.

At the time Prahia was writing and publishing his book, I was working at Electronic Arts and was gripped by how successful games were in driving human behaviour. I became fascinated by the positive human impact gamification could have in the world of work, which led me to set up Play Consulting in 2014.

Play is a digital innovation studio built on the belief that game techniques can be used for more than trading money for virtual candy, but to create habits that help people achieve their goals. Our mission is to realise human potential and meaning at work, through playful experiences that inspire.

Whilst I have seen gamification expand in the workplace over the past decade, I believe it still has a long way to go. This may be down to popular perception as well as a lack of understanding of its potential and how best to apply it; when we talk about games many people still think of computer games for children or teens holed up in their bedrooms glued to their console. The first step in helping companies maximise the benefits of gamification is to help debunk this myth.

Here are 4 reasons why I believe we will see a lot more gamification in the future of work.

### 1 - Gamification: more than the sum of badges and alerts

According to Gabe Zichermann, author of The Gamification Revolution, ‘Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game dynamics to engage audiences and solve problems’. The elements of gamification are often referred to as game mechanics and can encompass competition, challenges, collaboration, levels, badges, XP, and instant feedback. Used in various combinations, depending on the desired goal, these are designed to help broaden choices and ultimately influence our behaviour. As consumers, we see gamification every day, from rating systems used on sites such as Booking.com and Uber, through to loyalty points schemes and Audible badges.

For gamification to be successful in the workplace it needs to be treated like any other strategic business initiative, requiring careful planning, implementation focus and post-launch optimisation. Utilised correctly, gamification can unlock the potential for greater employee engagement, offering what no other media or tech can – a games mindset approach; where the player comes first, the focus is on the experience, wins are celebrated, and engagement becomes self-perpetuating.

>  **Grand Theft Auto, a video-game launched over 20 years ago has generated over $6 billion in revenue, more than Star Wars, Gone with the Wind and every Marvel movie combined.**

### 2 - Games are big business

Games make a lot of money. In fact, they are outstripping all other media. Let’s take Grand Theft Auto. An action-adventure video game series first launched over 20 years ago, it has generated over $6 billion in revenue since its initial release and is, without doubt, the most financially successful media title of all time. It has surpassed the $4 billion achieved by best-selling films such as Star Wars and Gone with the Wind ([inclusive of adjustments for inflation](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-04-09-gta-v-is-the-most-profitable-entertainment-product-of-all-time)). And, for that matter, every single Marvel movie ever made [combined](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/grand-theft-auto-v-has-made-more-than-every-marvel-move-combined-news.47444.html).

Game designers are able to do this because of data and insight; they have every piece of data about how their players work; they know when they play, for how long and how they behave in their games. In short, they have insight into their users’ behaviour and motivations and feed this back into product development continually improving and enhancing their games for ever-increasing engagement and success.

### 3 - Games make meaningful connections

Games enable interactions, real-time feedback, and the opportunity to immerse the end-user (we like to call them Players) like no other media can. We are seeing an increase in popularity of multiplayer and community-based games; real-time, connected, global and cross-platform. Gaming as a connection medium, where players work together around a common purpose, is creating a new form of digital society. The impact of gamification on employee engagement is irrefutable. In his book, The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor explains how research has proven that ‘when we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work’.

>  **When there are games platforms competing with Netflix, it is no longer a niche industry.**

### 4 - Games are not going anywhere soon

We need to look no further than Twitch, a powerful video gaming streaming platform, to appreciate the sheer scale of the games industry. Twitch describes itself as a social networking platform, a ‘home for gamers’ and has [15 million daily active users](https://mediakix.com/blog/top-twitch-statistics-live-streaming-game-platform/). Purchased by Amazon for nearly $1 billion in 2014, it’s currently the 12th most visited web site in the US, the 30th in the world ([source](https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitch-statistics/)), with games that have been viewed up to 356 million hours in total ([source](https://influencermarketinghub.com/twitch-stats/)). When there are games platforms competing with Netflix, it is no longer a niche industry.

### Summary

As Prahia says in Loyalty 3.0: 'With gamification, business owners now have a steering wheel and an accelerator, and can react instantly to whatever comes their way.'

At Play, we have seen the success our clients such as PwC and Unilever have achieved through gamification. We’ve also put our money where our mouth is and have designed a gamified work social platform, called Totem. Totem offers companies a fun way for them to build stronger work cultures through enhanced employee relationships. Our clients achieve incredible platform adoption and very high daily usage rates because their employees enjoy using the platform to connect with each other irrespective of rank or department. Through Totem we are helping our clients maximise the benefits of gamification to supercharge their teams by building positive workplace connections, and ultimately making work itself more meaningful.

**How are you using, or how would you like to use gamification, to create playful experiences that inspire in your workplace? I’d love your thoughts.**

**By  [Marcus Thornley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusthornley/) – CEO at Play**

Harnessing a games mindset can boost employee engagement 

The world of work has changed dramatically in what feels like an eternity of the same really long day. Company stand-ups, all hands, coffee breaks and brainstorms have all moved online, where we’ve realised new challenges around video call burnout, unprecedented realms of wifi issues and general challenges around remote productivity. 

As we start to consider our return to the office and how that might look, it’s important to consider the impact so much change has had on employee engagement. We know what good looked like, but how does that translate to today? 

### Taking accountability for employee engagement

It’s been proven that companies with engaged employees experience enhanced commitment and loyalty, fresh innovative ideas, more discretionary effort and a more positive working environment. 

> 
**David McLeod, professor at Cass Business School says: 'employee engagement is an approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.'** 

It’s an approach that businesses should take accountability for and take it upon themselves to create conditions that inspire their employees to offer more of their capabilities and potential. Something that has been hard to do when everything we know about work has been stripped back and rewritten. 

### The way we were 

Typical best-practice around employee engagement included communicating business values to keep teams aligned, investing in training, increasing social activities that enable people to bring themselves to work and, of course, giving employees channels for feedback.

Transitioning to remote work we’ve seen all of these activities challenged. Socials are virtual (that’s if you haven’t given up on your quizzes yet), budgets have been cut in half leaving little left to training, and the lack in presence might have seen engagement in your feedback channels reduce. Your team could be feeling more disengaged than ever and with the return to the office pending – now is the time to facilitate change. 

### What good looks like in today's normal 

Getting your team back to the office might not mean every day and it might not mean the whole team. It’s possible most businesses will have employees alternating remote and office workdays to help with social distancing measures or new policies. 

As the term ‘office culture’ transcends to online and offline efforts, no longer tied to one singular place, we can find new meaning. Building a great online culture will help you build trust and keep teams engaged. 

### Have leadership front and centre

At times like these, visibility is everything. Having leadership speak out about the ever-changing and evolving work environment will create the transparency your teams value. Even if your company has more of a flat structure, leadership’s consistent voice will act as a source of truth that offers the stability and security that’s needed right now. 

Create an online space where your employees can see regular updates from leadership, whether they’re in the form of text, videos or podcasts. If all-hands or offline announcements have taken place, make sure these are recorded and shared across these channels. Off the back of these do your employees have a way of interacting with this information, can they leave comments and questions? 

### Create a two-way channel for feedback 

It’s important to have opportunities for two-way communication between employees and the business. To move towards a more trusting environment which drives honest communication and builds solutions that work, you need to speak to your people and ask them what they need. These can come in many forms and there is no one size fits all solution.

**Q&As**: Schedule Q&As with leadership on different topics, inform the team ahead of time when they’re going to happen so they can prepare questions and topics they’d like to be discussed. 

**Pulse Surveys**: Pulse surveys are a great way to get feedback from the team at regular intermissions, you can keep an eye out for correlations between announcements and morale or the like. 

**Questionnaires**: A traditional questionnaire on a pressing topic like the office move, where you can ask specifically what teams are concerned about. Give employees the opportunity to disclose their name for further discussion if they’d like. 

### Improve morale, mental wellbeing and motivation

Dedicate time to the outcomes of your feedback channels and create actions. How can you build trust and positivity? What can you do to better support your team through this challenging time? How can you inspire and align them with the company mission?

Some things are small but impactful, like taking the time to celebrate individuals and teams for their efforts and contributions whether it’s work-related or for championing company culture. 

Other actions take more planning like creating a supportive offering around employee mental health and wellbeing, but there are growing numbers of corporate packages available like Self Space or Headspace for Work. 

### Bring in the right tools 

Sometimes HR technology can be renowned for low adoption across the board. This can happen for a few reasons like poor design or UX, but it can also be because these tools usually deliver messaging from the business to employees but rarely the other way round. 

Give your employees the ability to create community and replicate office culture online [through platforms that give every team member the same share of voice](https://www.totem.team/). Enabling them to share experiences, opinions and recognition with teams builds trust, creates a sense of union and boosts morale. 



Employee engagement: what good looks like today 

**By [Ted Hewett](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-hewett/), Marketing Manager at Play**

For many businesses, hybrid working (working interchangeably between home and the office) has become a feature of our professional lives, and all the indicators show that it’s here to stay.

At Play, we’re passionate about building inclusive trust-based work cultures, both for our customers and ourselves. While we eat our dogfood/drink our own champagne and leverage Totem to keep our culture strong, along the way, we’ve found that hybrid team meetings pose one of the most challenging aspects of this new way of working.

Meetings have worked well when either fully remote or fully in-person. But things become more difficult when some of the team are together while others dial in, affecting productivity, communication, and ultimately, whether the meeting goals are met.

We’ve been trying a few different things that we’ve found have helped to create inclusive hybrid meetings, and we thought we’d share our own learnings here.

### See and hear
One of the most critical components of a hybrid meeting, much like an online-only meeting, is making sure everyone can both see and hear what's going on. This doesn’t mean you need to invest in high-grade audio equipment or complex camera systems (although you are welcome to do this), but with a little forethought, and by understanding the tech you’ve already got, you can deliver a video feed that is engaging and inclusive with ease.

For starters, if you’re in a large room with people maintaining social distancing, one dedicated laptop for the video stream when placed in the right location should be able to do most of the work. A small table (or even something like a music stand) placed in the right location can make a huge impact on what your video and audio quality sounds like. 

The audio is the hardest to get right, especially if you get into bigger rooms, so a small USB conference mic could be a big help here (on Amazon they range from about £20 - £60), but simply being mindful and moving the laptop around as different people speak will also make a difference. Or, in a pinch, dialling a mobile phone into the conference and using it as a microphone can work pretty well.

### Keep everyone in mind
One of the easiest traps to fall into is for the group dynamic of people who are physically present to take over the meeting. This isn’t inherently bad, but it can leave those dialling in feeling disconnected and disengaged. 

We’ve found that the best way to ensure everyone stays visible, heard and included, is to default to checking in with those dialling in **first**. For example, when it comes to questions, ask those dialling in to speak before those in the room. Or if there are questions that come up in the flow of the dialogue, keep a careful eye on the chat function you’ve got on your video conference tech, or direct messaging software, so that any feedback, questions, or additions can be included from everyone.

### Someone’s the owner
Ownership of meetings was important before, but now it’s critical to make sure that someone in the room takes charge and ensures that everyone is included. This role doesn’t have to be the person presenting or running through the content; their job is to keep everyone engaged and to make sure that all team members have a voice.

We’ve found that this works best when there’s a clear agenda for the meeting, as it lets the meeting owner have clear objectives for the attendees to go through, and will help those dialling in to contribute accordingly.

This can also be a great way to empower junior team members or new members of the team, as it gives a level of responsibility and visibility beyond them contributing to the content of the meeting. 

### Share best practices
As you begin to use your spaces in new ways, you and your teams will be learning what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to hybrid meetings. This can take many different forms and will help you improve the meetings that your business has to ensure they are as meaningful and productive as possible.

Think about sharing your own successes and failures in your internal comms channels. Was there a particular set up that worked well? Take a picture and share it publicly so others can replicate it. Was there an agenda format that really helped? A screenshot and a post about results can do wonders for others who are trying to solve the same problem. This type of open source problem solving is a huge component of successful hybrid working, and aside from it improving your meetings it will help to build familiarity and relationships across different parts of your business.

We’re still learning about hybrid working and the nuances and changes that make it successful. Our latest research paper digs into how people actually feel about hybrid working, and uncovers some surprising findings about familiarity, trust, and what companies can do to ensure they are creating cultures ready for hybrid working.


**[Grab your copy today](https://hello.totem.team/the-hidden-impact-of-hybrid-working/)**


How to have an inclusive hybrid meeting 

**By  [Harry Lynn-Evans](https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrylynnevans/) – Head of Product at Play**

Saying 'work hard, play hard' these days makes you sound like a bit of a melon. It implies an ultra-aggressive approach to sending emails followed by manic binge-watching Netflix. More importantly, it implies that ‘play’ and ‘work’ are mutually exclusive when actually, they aren’t. (It also implies that talking to you will be a massive bore).

Work shouldn’t be a fun vacuum – we spend too much of our lives at work to let that happen.  Yes, a large chunk will be dry (I’m looking at you conference calls), but not all the boring bits have to be so void of emotion and energy.

If we take ourselves less seriously and be a little more playful, we will enjoy our jobs more, engage with each other and build epic workplace cultures. You may even laugh a little.

‘Play hard’ should just be translated to having more fun. There are two types of fun at work: 
**1)** Fun you make time for
**2)** Fun you put into your time

The first is where the money goes (if you’re lucky); Christmas parties, team-building trips and late-night karaoke (mine is “Rocket Man” in case you’re wondering), but it’s the second kind of fun I want to talk about. It’s the fun that you inject into the day-to-day that gets me up in the morning.

At Play, our company mission is 'to create playful experiences that inspire.' It’s become the north star for everything we do. Play isn’t about having as many Christmas parties as possible (one is quite enough), it’s about putting a playful spin on every day to get better engagement and greater results. It’s about wanting to go into work on Monday. It’s about being yourself.

When making my own game, someone gave me advice I’ve never forgotten:

>**'Making a game is easy, making a fun game is hard.'
– An insightful buddy of mine**

He was 100% right. I made the game, but it wasn’t fun enough (R.I.P Barry the Goat). Today, I feel the same about my work – sending emails is easy, but making them playful, friendly or engaging is the hard part. Especially when you’re against a deadline!

At work, people are often reluctant to loosen up because they’re worried about being perceived as unprofessional. If you trust that your team can do their jobs and can enjoy themselves at the same time, then it’s easier to inject fun into everyday tasks. If instead, you believe that “serious = professional” then you’ve fallen into a trap that will kill team morale, damage your output and ultimately, increase turnover.

We’ve done some big playful projects at Play; we made learning about tax fun through a Tax Game (no, really), we’ve built apps that give badges for scanning and measuring pipes and we’ve created online leagues for engineers fixing boilers. But we’ve also done 6 small things that you can take away and try today.

### 1 - Absolutely do not send that next meeting invite without an emoji 🙅🏻‍♂️

Who’s super excited for the 'Finance Quarterly Update'? No-one.

Who’s super excited for the '💰Super Magic Money Meeting!💰'? Well, a few more people who are a touch more excited than before. Success! You don’t need to set the world alight, but injecting a little more fun makes your interactions lighter.

### 2 - Start sessions with a quiz 📋

How do you think we raise interest before meetings?

We ask questions before! About to show usage stats? Ask your team to guess first. About to present client feedback? Get your partner to take a guess at what they said. People are much more likely to remember something which made them think first.

### 3 - Share personal stories 📖

So much of the narrative in business is contrived to look grown-up and serious. Company News and updates can be personal stories with genuine feeling and humour, where appropriate.

### 4 - Play an actual game – like our Treasure Hunt 🏴‍☠️

Your task is to think about when you can use this game. As it happens, we’ve got a great template here you can use. Our Halloween Treasure Hunt toured all our Players through our office. It only took about 10 minutes but it had everyone enjoying themselves, for new Players they met new people, and for existing it was an opportunity to catch up with people you don’t usually connect with on a daily basis. Christmas is coming up, what better place to start?

Remember that applying a bit of fun at work isn’t a gimmick. Playful experiences don’t need to be complex, but it is a muscle that needs exercise often. Play’s mission is to create playful experiences that inspire, which means we always trying to exercise this muscle too.

So when you’re next bringing the team together, ask yourself: 'How can I make this more playful?'


Work hard, play often 

In 2019 Play Consulting was successful in securing Innovate UK funding for the further development of Totem as a tool to measure, nurture and improve organisational culture.

**[Innovate UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk)** is part of **[UK Research and Innovation](https://www.ukri.org/?_ga=2.208585298.1386598060.1601374641-1084027328.1598432154)**, funded by the UK government. They fund business and research collaborations to accelerate innovation, drive economic growth, and realise the potential of new ideas. 

Play applied for funding to support our goal in developing a world-first approach to employee engagement through Totem, a unique workplace Culture Tech tool. We are looking to address global productivity gaps through the application of sophisticated analytics and gamification techniques.

Here at Play, we specialise in aligning unique gamification approaches with cutting-edge platform development. We’re on a mission to realise human potential at work by creating an inclusive tool that makes culture everyone’s business.

>'The Play Totem Team are at the forefront of innovative approaches to employee engagement, fundamentally shifting organisational structures and empowering staff in a way that is not only innovative but embedded and long-lasting.'
**Tom Kennard – Director at Granted Consultancy (the team who supported our application)**

The development of Totem will allow organisations to truly measure culture in realtime, in a way that is intelligent and gamified. This insight will allow leaders to take action, continuously improving culture in a personalised way. 

We’re working hard on the development and release of this innovative new work, so there is certainly more to come. 

Keep your eyes peeled! An even stronger [Totem](https://totem.team/) is on the way.

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