Keep It Fun

Monday, Sept. 10, 2007 | 1 p.m.

Work should be fun. When people enjoy their work they perform better. At least that’s been my experience. But for some reason, many employers frown on humor and fun in the workplace.

I’m not suggesting that work is a free-for-all for fun. But come on, lighten up and let people enjoy their time at work! The average person spends more waking hours at work than he or she does at home with family. As I wrote previously (Purpose, July 30, 2007), people look for much more than money in choosing a workplace. In this era of competition for employees, a fun workplace is a differentiator.

As John Putzier says in his book, “Get Weird!”, “A new language, a new lifestyle, and a new workplace are emerging and redefining the employee-employer relationship. Entering this brave new world of work is the only option left for organizations if they are to survive and succeed in this age of revolutionary change.”

Here are some reasons and ideas to make your workplace more engaging and fun:

Contests — Do you need a boost of creativity in your office? How about a contest to to design the cover of your new brochure, holiday card, or that next ad? I remember learning this a long time ago at a firm where I once worked. We had a contest to design a poster to celebrate the firm’s forty year anniversary. Not only was it fun and yielded some excellent work, it gave the employees an opportunity to learn about the firm and their forty years’ of contributions. Our firm has had several contests to design our yearly Christmas cards and these events were fun and invariably brought out new ideas.

Lunch Events — Not much beats the chance to mix an event with a relaxed lunch. It’s a great way for people to connect with each other in a casual setting and to talk to people with whom they don’t usually have the chance to work. I know of a firm that has Dim Sum Thursdays. The firm pays a vendor to push a Dim Sum cart through the office. Employees pick up their food and gather in small groups to eat and converse. A local law firm has barbecues on Fridays during the summer on its patio. Our firm has our monthly staff and visioning sessions over lunch.

Inclusive Staff Meetings — Everyone tires of the same old staff meeting. You know the type of meeting where the Owner runs the agenda and it’s “all-business.” Shake it up by encouraging other staff members to take turns planning and managing the staff meetings. You’ll breathe new life into the mundane and the meeting will still accomplish the business it needs to accomplish. Our business manager planned our latest staff meeting. The agenda was about project cost overruns (not a very fun topic to talk about). Amazingly, she made it fun! The meeting came complete with a David Letterman style “Top 10 List of Reasons Why Projects Go Over Budget.” She also prepared ‘Wanted Posters’ for everyone in the office. You were either wanted for something good or for something bad, ranging from great project management to train robbery, and your reward reflected the severity of your charge.

Celebrations — If firms were as good at celebrating their successes as they are about complaining about the things that go wrong, most companies would be a whole lot more fun places to work. Celebrating the victories is so important for the morale of a firm. People work hard and they deserve to celebrate as well. I’m talking about more than the obligatory holiday party or summer picnic. I mean spontaneous or timely celebrations tied to a recent success. I know of a firm that toasts all new contracts with a bottle (or ten) of champagne. They save the corks and write the date and contract name on them. What a nice cultural event!

Holiday Events/Decorations — Most firms have a holiday event. But does your firm celebrate every holiday, complete with party and decorations? I know of a firm that does. Each department champions a different holiday and they compete against each other to throw the best party within the budget. These competitions have resulted in a St. Patrick’s Day party complete with green beer, kilts, and the annual trek to deliver food to the local food pantry. Their Halloween party included skits by various group and included prizes. I know of another company who is preparing to have a “Decorate Your Cubicle” contest. I’m looking forward to seeing this. Our firm once had a poetry contest for Thanksgiving, where we had a live turkey as the judge (you don’t want to know how the judge indicated if he didn’t like some of the entries). I’m not sure I would recommend this event for every company, but it was very fun.

There are many ways you can inject some fun into work. You’ll see tremendous benefits over the long run–intangibles that will make their way to the balance sheet in a positive way.

I’d like to hear from you:

• What does your firm celebrate and how?

• Do you have special ways of infusing fun into your organization?

• Do you believe there is a correlation between a fun work environment and the bottom line?

Until next week…

Craig