Monday morning: ten open tasks.
Three are urgent, two are unpopular – and once again the same people step in?
1. Make open tasks visible.
2. Team members take them on by themselves.
3. Effort is recognised fairly – without public exposure.
Not a tool born in a lab: 30 years of hands-on service practice as a manager, consultant and textbook author – now available as software. In the pilot project: +20 % productivity
This is what GoodPoints looks like (example):
| Care: patient fully looked after | 25 points |
| Technology: CT scanner repaired | 20 points |
| Club: new member won | 15 points |
| Education: student guided to success | 15 points |
Unpopular tasks = more points. Especially satisfied customers = bonus points.
How it works
Post a task
The lead defines: What needs doing? How many points is it worth?
Team picks it up
Everyone sees open tasks and takes on what they can and want to do.
Done = Points
After completion, points are credited to the personal account.
Why points work
People compare their contribution with the contribution of others.
GoodPoints makes this comparison possible – anonymised.
Everyone sees their own points and recognises where their own result stands in relation to the anonymised team. This can create a voluntary incentive to increase one's own contribution – without colleagues or superiors being able to identify individuals.
Your own progress becomes visible
The comparison with the team stays anonymous
Unpopular tasks become more attractive through points
What GoodPoints is NOT
Who sees personal points?
Personal point balances are visible exclusively to the individual. Even administrators and superiors cannot view individual balances. Only anonymised team results and task data are visible.
The difference at a glance
| Classic | GoodPoints | |
|---|---|---|
| Task assignment | Manager constantly assigns | Employees choose themselves |
| Unpopular tasks | Often left undone | More points = they get done |
| Recognition | Invisible | Points make engagement visible |
| Team comparison | Informal, often unfair | Honest and anonymised |
| Point privacy | – | Personal points stay private |
| Cost | – | 5.00 EUR per contributor and month |
"Employees no longer asked: Why me? - but: Why don't I get this task?"
From the pilot project: productivity rose by around 20% – an encouraging result, not a promise.
Those who feel recognized gladly do more – the company profits, and the customer is better served. Three winners, zero losers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Short and honest answers
How does GoodPoints work?
Tasks are posted and visible to everyone. Employees take on what they want to do. After completion, points are awarded. Everyone sees their own points and anonymised team results – an anonymised comparison that can voluntarily spur more engagement.
Who sees my points?
Personal point balances are visible exclusively to the individual. Even administrators and superiors cannot view individual balances. Only anonymised team results and task data are visible. This is technically enforced by the system. For the leadership, this is also a relief: GoodPoints enforces point privacy technically - nobody can call up individual values, not even accidentally. No surveillance accusations, no distrust in the team.
What happens to unpopular tasks?
Unpopular tasks can be made more attractive with higher points. That way, work that would otherwise be left undone still gets done. The lead keeps track and can step in where needed.
Does the dispatcher become unnecessary?
No. GoodPoints can relieve dispatchers of part of the routine assigning work. They remain responsible for special cases, priorities, quality assurance and tasks nobody volunteers for. From constantly assigning to targeted intervention.
What does GoodPoints cost?
GoodPoints deliberately avoids marketing — that keeps the price low. Currently still an inexpensive 5.00 EUR per contributor per month. Use this time to see what GoodPoints really brings to your operation — the gain lies above all in motivation: people who choose their own tasks and see performance in points work with more commitment. How much that means for you is best seen yourself. The earlier you start, the longer you benefit from the current price.
How can I try GoodPoints?
Click "Try it now" below – no registration, two minutes. You will see the exchange with tasks, can take on a task and view the anonymous ranking.
Show more questions
What if my employees do not take part?
Nothing changes for them. GoodPoints forces no one: assigned tasks remain assigned tasks - anyone who does not want to take on extra work simply works as before, with no disadvantages and without anyone seeing their points. The personal points account keeps running all the same: points are credited automatically for completed tasks, assigned ones included - without ever looking at it, available at any time, even later once interest grows. Those who want to take on more become visible and fairly recognised for the first time. In the 2006 pilot project this produced 20 % higher productivity - without bonuses and without pressure.
What do I get out of it if points do not interest me?
Nothing - and that is honest. Nobody has to take part, and nobody sees your values: not even the management can retrieve individual values. Points are private assets, like an account: it fills up on its own whenever you take on tasks - even if you never look. Whether and to whom you show it is entirely up to you. Your points and your position in the comparison are available at any time - for any period you choose (week, month, custom from-to) - and can be printed directly: your own documentation of your commitment, possible today. There can also be sober moments: when an organisation downsizes and it hits you at a bad time, proof can help. GoodPoints moves those who want to take part - that does not require surveillance.
What does my points score tell me about myself?
More than you might think - in both directions. Anyone regularly at the top unchallenged may be under-challenged: the work demands nothing more. Anyone mostly near the bottom may have skills in a different field - one that can bring more fulfilment and well-being. The points score is an honest indication, not a verdict: it shows your relation to the tasks available in this area - not what someone is worth or could be elsewhere.
What happens if nobody takes on a task after all?
Then its point value rises automatically - the longer it sits there, the more attractive it becomes. Almost always, someone then volunteers. And if truly nobody wants it: the dispatcher can still assign it as before - that decision belongs to the organisation, not the system.
What can points be awarded for?
Points are not only for normal tasks. Anything that benefits the company or the team can be rewarded:
- Helping and supporting colleagues
- Customer referrals - someone who brings the company a new contract
- Quality checks of completed work
- Conducting or attending training and further education
- Organising the summer party, Christmas party or team events
- Contributing ideas and improvement suggestions
- Documentation, tidiness, safety inspections
Since points are not money, much becomes possible that would otherwise be too expensive. Everyone who contributes becomes visible - without the company immediately spending money.
What happens if the boss or a manager wants to see my points?
They can't. With GoodPoints, everyone sees only their own points. Neither managers nor the owner can view individual scores - this is technically hard-coded, not just a setting that can be switched.
This is crucial: When points are public or can be viewed by superiors, behaviour changes immediately. Nobody wants to fall to the bottom, nobody wants to stand out at the top. The system becomes a surveillance tool instead of motivation. From practice: Companies that made points public sabotaged the system - unintentionally, but effectively.
With GoodPoints, this is impossible. The team result is visible, individual points remain private. This keeps it a motivation system - forever.
Can anyone cheat the system?
Points are not created by self-assessment - only once a task is genuinely completed, with optional quality checks by colleagues or customers. And because points are private, cheating earns nobody any standing: you would only be fooling yourself. The system rewards real work - nothing else.
Do I lose control as a boss?
No - you gain effectiveness. With GoodPoints, the system drives employees, not you. You see the team result and know if things are working. You don't need individual points because the system already regulates itself.
Your role changes from driver to coach. And if someone is collecting points like crazy - make sure they don't overwork themselves. That's the right concern of a good boss, not "Who is the worst?".
What is the actual principle behind GoodPoints?
In almost every company, allocation comes from above - someone decides who does what. GoodPoints brings market economy inside: tasks find those who can do them best and are most motivated. Just like in the economy outside, this works better than top-down allocation. Companies that understand this have a clear competitive advantage.
Why points instead of money?
- Money creates dependency and demands - points motivate without expectations
- Points are fair because they show performance, not purchasing power
- With money, motivation stops when payment stops - points keep working
- Points are not taxed and remain personal
- Points are earned recognition, not money
- With points, everyone sees for themselves how they compare - unvarnished and objective, not just the boss's opinion
Of course, the salary must be fair. But for additional effort and engagement, points are better than money - they motivate differently, more lastingly, without expectations. Money burns. Points stay - and since they are private, you can slow down without losing face.
In addition, points act as strategic control: whoever sets the point values for specific techniques, customers or tasks steers the behaviour of specialists - regionally and globally. Specialists take local characteristics into account themselves. This creates a control that is not possible today without such a system.
Hasn't this concept been tried many times - and failed?
The concept was successfully tested in 2006 at a German corporation: +20% productivity. The project ended because the client's contact changed, not because it didn't work.
Other companies failed - but not because of the concept; they failed at implementation without software. The main problem: superiors wanted to see and control their employees' points. That turned the system into something it was never meant to be - from a self-steering tool into a surveillance tool.
GoodPoints prevents exactly that. Points remain private - technically hard-coded, not just a setting. The framework that experienced consultants once had to observe manually is enforced by the software. And if needed, the inventor of the concept is personally available for advice.
What happens if nobody cares about the ranking - with no advantages or disadvantages?
Then it remains a mirror without effect. Point lists only develop their incentive once visible consequences exist. One possible variant (each organisation's own decision): the names of the top 30 to 40 percent of a month - depending on the company's preference - are passed to the HR department. It can pay them a moderate bonus for that month or adjust the company pension scheme accordingly. Both work quietly but lastingly. This is also fair: the return for the company is high when introduced properly - part of it may go back to the employees. Everyone else remains anonymous. Because the group is recalculated every month, a lasting incentive emerges for everyone - without anyone being exposed.
Do you need a modified version of GoodPoints?
Every organisation is different: processes, specific details, particularities, interfaces. On request we create an adapted version for your company with our expertise in the model — in consultation with you. During later operation we ensure the confidentiality of points required for the model to be effective.
What if our IT department prefers its own tool?
GoodPoints does not want to replace any existing system - it runs as its own lean area without forced integrations. The comparison is worth it: points stay private (not even management sees individual values), servers in Germany, testable in 2 minutes. If your own tool can do the same - even better. Often it cannot offer exactly this point privacy.
Who has to decide - management, board, administration?
GoodPoints needs one responsible person on site who wants to carry it - whether leadership, a department or the administration differs by organisation. A trial run with one department decides better than any consulting.
What about the works council or staff council?
Works councils are usually involved early - to their benefit: points are private, no surveillance, no performance control, GDPR-compliant, servers in Germany. GoodPoints makes employees visible instead of controlled.
We already have other projects - why another one?
GoodPoints is not a project with a start and an end, but a permanent arrangement for fair recognition. It does not compete with change projects - afterwards it keeps everyday tasks fair. Start small: one department, one year.
How do I motivate employees without constantly paying money?
Money works short-term and creates dependency. Lasting motivation emerges when performance becomes visible: whoever takes on work collects points - everyone sees the same point list. Nobody has to beg for recognition. In the 2006 pilot, productivity rose by more than 20% without bonus payments. GoodPoints can be introduced gently: First, the team is informed about the model and its possibilities. Dispatchers can continue assigning tasks as usual. For specialists who don’t want to self-dispatch or find it too new, dispatchers assign tasks the traditional way. Once a task is completed, the time spent is entered in GoodPoints and the corresponding points are generated automatically. Results are published anonymously for everyone. Over time, the realization grows that it’s advantageous to be in the upper point ranges.
Why does nobody take on the unpopular tasks?
Because they do not pay off. The solution: unpopular tasks carry more points. A normal fault gives 60 points, one on a Friday evening in winter far away gives 400. What happens? Volunteers sign up. The system regulates itself - without the boss forcing anyone.
How do I recognise who really performs in the team without surveillance?
Through a point list that makes performance visible anonymously: completed tasks = points. Crucially, individual points remain private - even from the boss. This prevents surveillance and exposure while showing the team that performance counts. Companies that made points public sabotaged the system.
How do I distribute jobs fairly among the technicians?
With a task marketplace: technicians choose jobs themselves, each job carries points by difficulty and urgency. Fairness emerges through transparency - everyone sees the same list, nobody is preferred. The concept won the Service Management Prize in 1992; the 2006 pilot showed +20% productivity.
How do I distribute on-call and emergency duties fairly?
Less popular duties automatically carry higher point values - whoever takes the Christmas shift earns more points than a normal workday. Volunteers sign up themselves. And since points are not money, it does not cost the company immediately - but the duty gets done reliably.
In our club the same few people do everything - what can we do?
Points make contributions visible: whoever takes on tasks and completes them collects points - everyone sees the list. This balances the workload because quietly carried work becomes visible. GoodPoints Lean for clubs is free and works without registration.
What helps against quiet quitting?
An often overlooked cause: invisible performance. If someone performs a lot but nobody sees it, they eventually lose motivation. Points make performance objectively visible - without the boss having to hand out praise. Not a substitute for fair pay, but a proven lever against the feeling "It does not matter anyway".
How do we introduce a point system in the company?
Start small: one group, one month. Points by difficulty and urgency, quality checks by colleagues instead of the boss. The most common mistake: managers want to see and control individual points - earlier projects failed exactly there. GoodPoints keeps points technically private; nobody can switch that off.
Aren't points the same as social scoring?
No - the opposite. Social scoring rates from above: state or company evaluates behaviour and sanctions. GoodPoints is bottom-up and voluntary: points only arise from actually delivered, measurable work. Nobody is rated, nobody sanctioned. Points are earned recognition - market economy inside the company instead of control over people.
Do small contributions earn points too?
Yes - it is even good if ANY participation in the organisation can be honoured with points: paying the annual fee, attending shared events, every small help. Points are an index of commitment - not a competition prize. Everyone sees their own success, at their own pace - even if it is comparatively small next to top results. Nobody is compared downward; points stay private.
What if my team initially resists the change?
GoodPoints can be introduced gently: first, the team is informed about the model and its possibilities. Dispatchers can continue assigning tasks as before. For specialists who do not want to self-dispatch or find it too new, the dispatchers assign as usual. Afterwards, the time spent is entered and the points are created automatically. The results are made visible to everyone in anonymised form. Gradually the insight matures that it is advantageous to be in the upper point ranges.
Does GoodPoints work on a mobile phone?
Yes. GoodPoints runs in the browser - on smartphone, tablet and PC, no installation required. If you like, you can install it as an app on your home screen, and important functions also work offline. For teams on the move - trades, care, field service - this is the normal way.
Our employees speak different languages - is that possible?
Yes. GoodPoints is available in German, English and French - every employee sees the interface in their own language. Tasks, points and the exchange work identically for everyone, regardless of the language set.
Who is behind GoodPoints?
The concept comes from Dr.-Ing. Walter Tritt, who developed it as a service exchange and received the Service Management Award for it in 1992. His book on the subject was published in 2000, and in 2006 the model was tested in a corporate pilot with over 20% more productivity. GoodPoints is the software implementation of this concept - by the inventor himself.
Does GoodPoints replace wages?
No. Fair pay is the foundation - points do not replace it and are not meant to. Points are additional recognition for work done: visible, fair and private. Money and points work together - salary for the agreed work, points for engagement beyond that.
Do we need to involve the works council?
We recommend it - every organisation is different, and the works council knows your workforce. The most common objection removes itself: GoodPoints sees no points, there is no top-down performance monitoring - points remain private with every employee. Explaining the system transparently early on usually makes the introduction easier. (Note: not legal advice.)
Who is GoodPoints not for?
Honestly: not for every organisation. Anyone who wants points as a surveillance tool, who wants individual assessments reported to the boss, or who believes motivation is purely a question of pay will not be happy with GoodPoints - we are the wrong fit for that. It works particularly well where work is allowed to be visible, where personal responsibility is welcome and fairness matters: trades, care, clubs, schools and service providers.
Our workplace atmosphere is poor - what can we do?
A poor workplace atmosphere often has an overlooked cause: unfair, opaque task distribution and invisible work. GoodPoints makes both fairly visible - everyone chooses tasks themselves, completed work earns points, and points stay private. Where recognition is tied to real work again, the atmosphere often eases faster than expected.
How can we improve our workflows?
The biggest lever is less coordination: open tasks are visible in the exchange, everyone picks what fits their strengths, and status and points are visible to all. Instead of assigning, asking and checking, self-steering runs the workflow - the dispatcher only steps in when needed.
Lack of appreciation at work - what helps?
Appreciation works when it is concrete and earned - not just kind words from the boss. Points make delivered work visible and rewardable: whoever contributes has it documented, without having to boast. Bonuses or recognitions can optionally be attached - the basis remains honest visibility.
What about bullying at work?
Mobbing is a serious matter and usually needs personal help - counselling, a trusted person or the works council. But where bullying grows out of arbitrariness and invisibility - who gets which task and why? - GoodPoints creates objective criteria: a transparent exchange, clear points, no mood-based decisions. That removes a common breeding ground, but it does not replace counselling.
Our processes have grown over the years and are uneconomical - can GoodPoints streamline them?
Yes - through the point values. Points are earned where customer benefit and value creation happen. Internal administrative and legacy tasks that nobody really needs get few or no points: nobody volunteers for them anymore, they get questioned or simply fade away. Without bans, without a restructuring decree - the point values continuously realign the workflows with the market. What is modern and necessary is decided by customer benefit, not tradition.
What happens to internal administrative tasks that suddenly nobody volunteers for?
At first: nothing - and that is exactly the test. If the task is really needed, the damage becomes noticeable and it gets points deliberately. If no damage appears, it was superfluous - and it is good that it is gone. This is how lasting leanness emerges: not through a ban from headquarters, but because every task has to keep proving that it creates value.
Will redundant departments in a company become visible?
Yes - that is one of the strongest effects. Points arise only where customer benefit and value creation happen. A department that only administers internally and serves nobody simply has no tasks that earn points - and becomes visible quickly. Not because anyone attacks it, but because the exchange honestly shows where value flows. This makes structural conversations factual: what stays is decided by visible contribution - not by opinions or power.
Do departments with too much unproductive staff become visible?
Yes - in the point comparison between departments. Points are recorded per employee: average per head, per hour and per order. A department that consistently sits at the bottom of the comparison becomes visible quickly - objectively, and without anyone having to dig through files. And the comparison stays fair, because it is not the absolute total that counts but the average per person. That makes it possible to discuss it factually: does the area need support, a different structure - or is it simply too large for its task?
Is GoodPoints also suitable for large corporations?
Especially there. Large organisations constantly face the same problem: departments grow, administration thickens, and nobody can objectively say where value is created. That is exactly what the point comparison between departments makes visible - points per employee, per hour and per order, comparable across all areas. The concept was awarded the Service Management Award in 1992 and tested in a corporate pilot in 2006 with +20% productivity. One important lesson from that time: the model only works if the core is preserved - best done together with the inventor.
How do you break up bureaucratic structures?
Bureaucracy rarely starts out malicious - it grows because rules arrive more easily than they leave, and because nobody has time to question the old ways. This is exactly where GoodPoints works: tasks with customer benefit earn points and get taken on voluntarily - internal control and form loops stay empty and are questioned on their own. Not abolished by decree, but elegantly streamlined: whatever genuinely hurts gets deliberately pointed and consciously re-regulated.
Why do employees only do the bare minimum?
Working to rule happens when extra effort stays invisible: those who do more usually just get more work - not more recognition. People throttle down when contributions disappear under the table. GoodPoints makes completed work visible: taking on and finishing tasks earns points the whole team can see. Recognition flows from visibility - not from surveillance.
How do I prevent overload in the team?
Overload grows in secret: a few quietly swallow tasks until they burn out. The first step is visibility - who is carrying how much right now? In GoodPoints the point list shows the distribution: sustained peaks become visible before anyone quits. And since tasks are chosen voluntarily, nobody takes on more when they are full. It does not replace conversations - it makes them fact-based.
How is GoodPoints different from tools like Trello or Asana?
Trello and Asana organise tasks: what needs doing, who does it, by when - assigned by a manager. GoodPoints organises the recognition behind it: who volunteers, and how contribution is rewarded - without managerial assignment and without public ranking (points stay private, GDPR-compliant). Both can be combined: the US tool for the workflow, GoodPoints for motivation and fair distribution.
See it for yourself
You have read how it works. In the demo you will experience:
• The exchange with open tasks and their point values
• Taking on a task with one click
• The anonymous ranking that shows performance
Beta: free, no registration, no obligation
Or take a quiet look at examples first: Exchange and Ranking →
Questions? info@goodpoints.de
Three ways - one principle
Points for performance - from a simple personal tracker to the complete enterprise system
Solo
Just you. Your own tasks, your own points. Free.
Lean
For clubs. Tasks via WhatsApp, points visible to all.
GoodPoints (you are here)
Complete system for enterprises. With roles, marketplace, GDPR.
GoodPoints is based on the service exchange concept by the inventor himself, awarded by the KVD e.V.
Original articles, visions and practical experience: