Gaming for Agility: Using Serious Games to Enable Agile Project & Portfolio Management Capabilities in Practice
Christoph Johann Stettina, Tyron Offerman, Bram de Mooij, Ikhlaq Sidhu · 2018
Organizations creating new products and services are increasingly adopting agile project and portfolio management capabilities to remain innovative. However, acquiring the necessary skills and spirit is troublesome for many organizations as they rely heavily on a distinct mindset and experience that can only be acquired in the process. Literature indicates that serious games can help to bridge that gap. In this paper we take the example of agile project management methods to understand how games are applied to support the acquisition of agile and entrepreneurial capabilities. In an explorative study, we conducted qualitative interviews with game developers, business consultants, and agile coaches from nine different companies, and conducted desk research on available open source serious games. Based on 475 minutes of recorded audio, 81 pages of transcripts as well as 26 identified open source games, we discuss the purpose, characteristics, and success factors of serious games and their embedment in training. Further, we provide an analysis of available games and what capabilities they address. Based on our findings we advocate for a wider use of serious games and simulations to support the adoption of agile project and portfolio management capabilities in practice. In particular, we believe the benefits of such an approach allow participants to experience, understand, and be able to work effectively across the different interconnected components of such a capability.