Technology has advanced at a breakneck pace over the past twenty years. New technologies have created new forms of life with more technological possibilities than ever. One possibility was the video game market, which has now grown to the point that people play all over the world. The video game market is continually expanding and many games now reach revenues similar to those of major Hollywood movies. The extent to which these technologies have prepared and disciplined users for the organization of work would seem at first glance very little, since only a game would be assumed. However, there could be many similarities that have helped people improve their organizational and managerial skills.
Many video games are someone else’s reality. The example of the Football Manager series can be seen as a direct example of the presence of management and organization in a video game. This allows users to control, direct and coach a soccer team as if they had a job to do it. Football Manager is one of many simulations, others like Roller coaster Tycoon, Sim City, Medal of Honor, all are real life occupations that many people want due to the size of the market for these simulation games. However, it is common that these players do not choose to try to follow this professional path. The video game is seen as a method of escapism to a world totally different from everyday life. This raises the question of whether something learned from a video game can be applied to a person’s “real” work. The possibility in the mind of the person / player are two worlds that are separate entities that will not allow transferable abilities, one is fantasy and the other is reality.
Discipline in an organization would require an employee / employer to work hard to carry out the relevant tasks. Typically, these tasks would be constructed to achieve goals, targets, and objectives for the organization. These objectives have been established to achieve a mission statement. This situation could be compared to a video game. An example is Grand Theft Auto, the organization’s objectives are individual missions, the mission statement is to complete the game 100%. The employee / employer and the player will work / play to achieve these overall goals and if they are achieved, benefits will flow from them. The player is rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and so is the employee, although monetary gain is also likely to be made in organizing work. The skills required are focus, determination and faith to be successful in achieving an overall goal which is an essential skill in an organization, which provides the foundation for good management skills. With these two skills necessary for gaming and management, it might be possible for video games to prepare or highlight people with the skills necessary to focus on goals and objectives. This shows them that they are more prepared for management in the workplace.
Daily management in the workplace requires coordination and communication skills. An employer will need to delegate tasks to another employee, allowing large-scale operations to be completed successfully. This is also present in video games, especially multiplayer shooter games. With a headset, a player can instruct teams and armies to attack / defend or other tactics to try and win the battle. This involves communicating plans effectively, under pressure, skills that are considered valuable in the work environment. However, you might wonder to what extent these skills are developed when playing. The player may have already acquired them elsewhere and the game is simply putting them to use, which would not prepare them for work organization any more than they already were.
Video games are a leisure activity that is not associated with work. The discipline of the two is very different since the worker and the player are in very different situations. The worker could be considered to be under “real” pressure to complete the job. However, the player is in a relaxed environment, with little external pressure to complete the game, although it may be important to the individual, it has no effect on colleagues if the game is not complete, as in work organizations.
It can be recognized that video game technologies require skills similar to those of management in work organizations, but they are very limited. The discipline and preparation to become a successful manager in a workplace organization will require much more than decent play skills. I think the two activities have no correlation between a good player and a good manager, however this remains to be demonstrated. The video game and the organization of work are two completely different situations that require a different state of mind in each.