Stakeholders use collaborative games in an elicitation activity to form a shared understanding of a problem or a solution.
Collaborative games are a technique which uses game play to motivate participants and support collaboration.
The games are made up of of rules which help to keep the participants focused on a particular goal.
The games are used to support the participants in sharing their knowledge and experience on a specific topic, recognize hidden presumptions, and analyze the shared knowledge.
The shared knowledge of the collaborative game stimulates the participants into having different views on a topic and work together to understand the issue and create probable solutions.
To be successful, an impartial facilitator has to assist the participants to help them to understand the rules of the game and ensure that those rules are applied.
The facilitator also helps in advancing the game and making sure that all the participants play an active role.
Activities in the collaborative games such as moving sticky notes, scribbling on whiteboards, or drawing pictures would help the participants to overcome restrictions and help promote creative thinking.
There are some components of collaborative games which have to be considered and they are:
1. The game’s purpose: Collaborative games are used to create a better understanding of a problem and develop possible solutions and it is the job of the facilitator to assist the participants in understanding those problems and creating solutions.
2. The collaborative game process: every game has its own set of rules, which is meant to move the game towards its goal.
These games are usually time bound and have at least three steps, which are:
Step i. In this step the participants are informed of the problem and rules of the game. They then get involved in the game and start producing ideas.
Step ii. In this step, the participants are actively involved in the game and search for associations between the generated ideas, test those ideas, and investigate any new ideas.
Step iii. In this final step, the generated ideas are analyzed and the participants decide which ideas are expected to be the most beneficial and fruitful.
3. The results of the collaborative game: At the conclusion of the collaborative game, the facilitator and participants go through the results and make a decision on any actions that need to be taken as a result of what the participants have learned.
4. Examples of Collaborative Games: Examples of collaborative games include
a. Product Box: in this game the participants build a retail store box and use it to identify some features of the box which would help fulfill any customer needs.
b. Affinity Map: in this game the participants write down features on sticky notes and group similar features together. It is used to identify similar product features.
c. Fishbowl: in this game the participants are split into two groups. One group talks about the problem while the other groups listens and documents their comments. This game is used to identify any concealed presumptions.
Collaborative games have both their strengths and limitations which include the following:
Strengths
• It may reveal hidden presumptions or misunderstandings.
• It stimulates creative thinking by encouraging mental processes.
• It encourages reserved participants to take a more active role in team activities.
• It could be used to reveal business needs that aren’t being met.
Limitations
• The games may not be taken seriously due to their playful nature.
• The participants may view the games as a waste of time.
• The results could be skewered by group think.