Gaming for the Win

When you think of hobbies that foster the development of professional skills — problem-solving, leadership, collaboration — activities such as scouting or debate team likely come to mind. Well, now you can add playing video games to that list.

Recent research led by Melika Shirmohammadi, assistant professor at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering Division of Technology, highlights the link between massively multiplayer online, or MMO, games and enriched skills in the workplace.

The study’s findings, published in “Human Resource Development International,” suggest that video games such as World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and Final Fantasy — which require players to coordinate tasks to achieve collective goals and collaborate with a team and problem-solve — help players develop personal and professional skills.

“Online gaming often gets a bad reputation, but our study reveals a different story,” Shirmohammadi says. “We found that gaming can actually help people develop valuable workplace skills … [that] include problem-solving, teamwork, leadership and even self-confidence. Our research shows that gaming, when done in moderation, can be a way for people to grow both personally and professionally.”

Many MMO players in the study reported positive mindset shifts, including viewing work as solvable puzzles, and experienced improved patience, self-confidence and self-awareness. The study also traced coaching and development skills — such as evaluating team performance, providing and receiving feedback or encouragement, and player collaboration to persevere in reaching a shared goal — to gaming.

“Our study extends the understanding of nonwork-to-work enrichment to the MMO gaming context and reveals how a hobby, as an understudied subdomain of life, could benefit work,” Shirmohammadi says.