Mark Twain suggests that ‘work and play are words used to describe the same thing under different conditions’. Employees don’t necessarily associate the workplace as a ‘fun’ environment; however, companies can consider ways to generate energy and interest in the business without compromising productivity.
Workplace stress is becoming an increasingly challenging problem, as confirmed by a recent report suggesting that antidepressant use increased by 40% in the last four years. Going back to ancient times, investing in humor, courtesy of a court jester, was considered a necessity. Some American companies have even introduced a ‘Joy Director’ to coordinate fun in the workplace. Now this may be a step too far for UK companies but I think it is useful for senior management teams to introduce humor and fun where appropriate as research has shown an improvement in creativity and productivity when successfully implemented. John Cleese suggests that a sense of humor moves us from a closed to an open mode faster than anything else. Humor is also good for customer relationships, as a shared moment of fun is one of the fastest ways to build good relationships. Humor can have a positive impact on the health of your employees, as research has shown that laughter ultimately relaxes the body, lowering heart rate and blood pressure by promoting deeper breathing.
Giving something back gives people satisfaction and a sense of purpose. Many successful companies encourage their employees to enjoy working together to raise funds for good local or national causes.
Action 1. Introduce an element of fun into the Monday morning briefing. A very simple way to do this is to introduce a competition between departments to predict weekly sales or profit performance.
action 2. Consider ways to improve presentations to engage employees. Starting a presentation with a question or mini-quiz stimulates interest. Using images that are completely unrelated to the topic at hand can be effective as it sparks curiosity. For example, I used a popular TV game show format to help the audience appreciate the goals we needed to achieve to great effect.
action 3. Icebreakers are often used to cheer up colleagues at meetings or conferences and it can be challenging to think of something a little different. The best ones I’ve used involve people working in small teams to accomplish a task. When you feel a drop in energy levels, start an impromptu massage session with each participant massaging the back and neck of the person next to them.
action 4. Add a little joy to meetings. During breaks, consider introducing a fun game. It could involve doing something physical, like throwing balls into a trash can, or a mental challenge, like making a list of all the songs with a particular word in the title. It’s even better if the word relates to a particular challenge the group is working on. Saying that, I can’t think of many songs that have the word ‘productivity’ in the title!
Actions 5. If innovation is an essential requirement of your business, why not create a space to stimulate creative juices? This could be as simple as painting the room a different color or colors and introducing a large white board to capture ideas. Replace traditional office furniture with colored cubes or exercise balls to create a totally different environment.
Actions 6. Participate in a charity event. You don’t need to create your own charity event. Find out what charity events are already planned for your area that your business could support. For example, the British Heart Foundation organizes a variety of sponsored activities (walking, swimming, jogging and even skydiving) throughout the year and across the country.
Actions 7. Raising money doesn’t have to involve completing a marathon or taking on a tripeaks challenge. It can simply mean wearing a particular article of clothing for charity, such as a “jeans for genes day” or a pink shirt for breast cancer awareness. Last year, I participated in a ‘Movember’ fundraiser and grew a 1970s-style mustache to raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity.
Share 8. Start an interest group for employees who want to learn a new skill or improve an existing one. For example, many people are interested in learning a new language and what better way to improve than to practice with each other?