Gaming for Meaningful Interactions in Teleworking Lessons Learned during the COVID-19 Pandemic from Integrating Gaming in Virtual Meetings

Gaming for Meaningful Interactions in Teleworking Lessons Learned during the COVID-19 Pandemic from Integrating Gaming in Virtual Meetings

Kleiman, F. (TU Delft Information and Communication Technology)
Meijer, S.A. (TU Delft Organisation & Governance)
Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (TU Delft Information and Communication Technology)

2020

The recent need for social-distancing caused by COVID-19 resulted in working remotely, which can cause loneliness and disconnect from the organization. The pandemic stimulated people to look for novel ways to interact and, at the same time, socialize with each other. The change to home office increased the number of people using digital video calls; however, these impose restrictions on social bonding. In this commentary, we argue that the social bonding capacity of video calls can be increased by using games. Playing games can create a common object with shared goals, which can give players the feeling of being in the same environment, belonging to the same organization, working on joint objectives, and give an enjoyable experience. All work activities will unlikely return to the office after the pandemic is over, and preparing for remote working and socialization is needed. We recommend several avenues for research, including researching the concepts of online socialization and evaluating the effectiveness of gaming.

Digital government
public servants
meaningful interaction
collaboration
gaming
video call
teleconferencing
teleworking
COVID-19

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2b42233e-02a3-4e53-9d46-7700c1928c86

https://doi.org/10.1145/3416308

2639-0175

Digital Government: Research and Practice, 1 (4), 1-5

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2020 F. Kleiman, S.A. Meijer, M.F.W.H.A. Janssen