Talking Talent

And following on from yesterday, to draw another parallel between World of Warcraft and the real world of business, both are experiencing skills shortages.

On the World of Warcraft site, for example, a ‘recruitment’ discussion board - the World of Warcraft’s equivalent of Seek.com.au - has thousands of requests for skilled players, and equally players looking to join new guilds.

For example, one post reads:

No Sleep for the Weary is a night guild on a Central time RP-PVP server. In general we are a laid back guild, but are looking to get a few more healers into our more serious raiding corp, as this is the only thing holding us back from success. We would like people who, while not extraordinarily hardcore, will be solid raiding attendees. Raid times are 3-4 nights a week from midnight to 4am Central (10 PM - 2 AM Pacific).

To be successful in WoW, players need to know how to find the right people with the right skills for their guild.  Guild leaders need to be experts in those ’soft skills’ of people management, with the ability to motive and inspire, ensure productivity and deal with conflict.

And of course, leaders need to find ways to overcome the complications of bringing a large group of diverse people together to achieve a common goal.

The stereotypical online gamer is a greasy-haired, pimply, overweight teenager with no social skills and too much time on his hands, right?

Wrong.

Statistics from the US Entertainment Software Association (ESA) suggest that the average gamer is 33 and more likely to be learning vital business skills than wasting time.

In World of Warcraft, for instance, thousands of players adventure together in an enormous virtual world, forming friendships, slaying monsters and engaging in epic quests that can span days or weeks. At last count, 9.3 million people were playing the game.

An IBM study, conducted in conjunction with MIT, Stanford and software start-up Seriosity, found that multiplayer games such as World of Warcraft and Everquest can help the next generation of workers become better corporate leaders as work becomes more collaborative and virtual in nature.

The study suggests that hours spent playing online can hone abilities to effectively collaborate, self-organise, take calculated risks, influence and communicate - skills that are not generally taught in universities or workplace training programs.

But do online games really provide insight into the future of our organisations as our leaders communicate with workers across a ‘virtual environment’ that spans many countries, cultures languages and time zones?

The impressive organisational skills needed to run a World of Warcraft guild, organise raids involving as many as 40 people and co-ordinate their different abilities to defeat a game’s strongest foes are all relevant to work.

Some of the lessons that gamers learn include the ability to make decisions rapidly, analyse and use data from varied sources and recognise people for their contributions - are all valuable assets in the workplace.  Perhaps even more so is the ability to assemble and motivate a group of individuals – many whom are volunteers - to make rapid decisions and act effectively under uncertain conditions.

What do you think?