‘Press Start’ on Collaboration: Game-Based Practices for Fostering Innovative Collaboration in Online Contexts

This study explores the potential of game-based practices in enhancing organizational innovation, particularly in the context of remote work. Specifically, we examine how collaborative practices within digital gaming environments can inform and enhance the creation of social capital in remote settings and further facilitate collaborative innovation processes. Existing research predominantly focuses on the use of game-based formats aimed at enhancing idea generation, crowdsourcing, and design processes. However, our research extends this by investigating the sustained application of game-based practices to foster deeper relationships and cultivate a culture of learning in remote work environments. We present insights from a qualitative study involving 28 interviews with technology professionals equipped with gaming backgrounds. Overall, our results reveal three sets of game-based practices that hold promise in supporting innovative collaboration in online settings: (1) Rich use of platforms and expressions to achieve interactional sensitivity, (2) Using games as boundary objects to enable idea flows and candid encounters and (3) Routinizing reflective practices and aligning motivations to cultivate learning cultures. Our study highlights the role of game-based practices in meeting the diverse interactional needs of online collaboration, reducing hierarchical barriers, enabling idea flows and cultivating a learning culture through collective accountability and feedback.