Politie Antwerpen sought innovative ways to boost team spirit and motivation.
The use of gamification features and non-monetary rewards.
Create a roadmap for a potential application.
Multiple brainstorming sessions to explore the practical application of gamification across different disciplines and ranks.
A thorough advice and implementation strategy.
A prototype application focusing on unique needs and social interactions.
Strategic and advice and presentation on the whole organization.
A roadmap for Antwerp’s police force to start using gamification effectively in the near future.
Antwerp's finest comprises over three thousand dedicated officers and staff who bear the crucial responsibility of ensuring the safety and well-being of the city. However, even formidable police forces encounter their fair share of challenges and struggles.
In this particular case, the Antwerp police force looked for innovative ways to bolster team spirit and motivation within its ranks. They believed that gamification and non-monetary rewards could potentially achieve this, but that would require a well-thought-out strategy and game plan in order for it to be integrated across different police disciplines and ranks. That’s where we came in!Digita
Digital strategyAs workforces expand, so do the expectations placed upon them. In larger organizations with diverse departments and disciplines, genuine and transparent communication can become challenging. Additionally, the presence of numerous specific needs, goals, frustrations, and responsibilities further complicates the dynamics.
The challenge was primarily internal and involved the need to boost team spirit and motivation within the Antwerp police force. Their force could be identified in three distinct groups: local officers, the intervention team and mobile units. There was a need for a clear strategy that effectively implemented gamification ideas to incentivize all these different police groups according to their unique, professional situations. And in the future, create an application that would bring it all together.
With a focus on boosting team spirit and motivation, a primary objective was set to implement gamification within the Antwerp police force. The strategy involved utilizing non-monetary rewards and incentives to actively engage the force's three distinct groups. By introducing a competitive element, the aim was to foster a sense of urgency and responsibility among the teams, creating a compelling call to action.
The objectives would be:
Motivate their force, so they also motivate each other
Digitally educate and train police officers
Optimize internal workflows by gathering better data
Make a positive impact and draw in new recruits
We saw the value in conducting multiple sessions to discuss and explore the practical implementation of gamification. These sessions aimed to bring together representatives from different police disciplines and ranks, allowing for genuine brainstorming and idea generation.
After compiling the feedback, it became clear that a potential application would focus on five main areas. Namely: well-being and sports, feedback, the police network, education and training, and job responsibility.
Learn moreWe presented our recommendations with an additional roadmap to the potential creation of an application. This prototype would serve as a tangible representation of how the gamification system could function in a real-world scenario.
The application would be a true personal motivation system. It consisted of ‘social media like’ user profiles and data dashboards according to each specific department. But it also had gaming elements like badges, skill sets, training progresses and giving compliments. There would be multiple ways for a police officer to motivate himself, but also engage in team challenges, boosting the collective cohesion. Points and rewards could be saved in a wallet, allowing the officers to get a nice treat in return. And so the cycle would continue.
The result was a comprehensive strategy tailored specifically to the Antwerp police force's needs. Although setup and growth phases were currently not part of the project scope, the focus was on developing an internal platform that integrated gamification effectively.
The project highlighted the potential of gamification in enhancing team spirit and internal motivation within a complex and diverse organization like a police force. The prototyped application provided a concrete roadmap for the potential implementation of the strategy.