Making Your Workplace More FUN: FUNdamentals
“Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov
Internationally respected leadership expert, speaker, and author Dr. John C. Maxwell once said: “When you are truly having fun in your work, creativity flows freely.” Yet, how many of us really have fun in our workplace?
Successful people, and organizations, know that the secret to success at work lies partly in creating a fun work environment for themselves and others. Creating a fun workplace makes good business sense also. Fun workplaces have better morale, more productivity and creativity, and fewer turnovers.
A lot of people equate work to stress, even if it’s something they can’t do without. Work brings food on our tables, a roof over our heads, clothing on our backs, and a treat every once in a while. Since we spend most of our waking hours focused on our work and with co-workers, instead of equating it to stress, how about taking a new approach and start seeing it as a place to de-stress from all other worries, a place to have fun.
The workplace is more than just a place to work. Your workplace is your second home. It is where you spend 50% of your waking hours. It’s a place where relationships are created, where learning occurs, and where we make a contribution to other people’s lives.
While many end their days feeling tired and stressed, others know that the secret to making work both productive and enjoyable requires a certain kind of attitude – and action. So how are we supposed to make work seem easier to deal with so it doesn’t eat up all our energy?
Simple Ways to Make Your Workplace More FUN:
FUNdamental #1: SMILE. Smiling is infectious, more so if it graduates into a chuckle, or maybe even a laugh. It is the easiest way to lighten the heaviest of air or a stressful situation. It is the start of changing your overall perspective towards work, and if you do it often enough, you will see how far it can bring you.
FUNdamental #2: KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR. Spend a little time each day getting to know the people you work with. It will be a lot easier to work with one another, making teamwork come naturally. The simple act of getting to personally know the people you work with makes one feel important and needed, which is the third stage in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. By providing this need, you increase employee engagement that we know is a vital component in reaching a company’s goals.
FUNdamental #3: LOVE YOUR JOB. Attitude is everything. Think and act positively, and everything else will come easy after that.
“Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger. And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.” – The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran
5 Tips for Making Use of Work FUNdametals:
#1 Think fun! – Having a positive attitude about every thing you do just naturally brings ‘fun’ to every interaction or task. And, a positive attitude is infectious.
#2 Think outside the box – When planning a meeting, an activity for the team, a one on one session, a training session, company program, think of ways you can get people more engaged – like meeting outside the office, it usually makes one more comfortable and at ease. Or maybe bring a bunch of bananas during a training session and give one out for every correct answer given or idea shared, it will surely make them wonder what a bunch of bananas is doing in the middle of the training room and tickle their curiosity.
#3 Recognize & Reward – Recognize not just work well done, but even the simplest of good deeds witnessed. This will make people feel appreciated, and know that what they do matters. Leaving a simple post-it note on someone’s desk thanking him or her for assisting you with your work goes a long way. A pat on the back is the simplest of rewards, but you can always make it more exciting like providing direct reports with an extra break, or a day off, for exemplary performance.
#4 Plan to have fun – Getting people together for social time makes working together a lot easier. Plan events, or make meetings fun with food and little activities. After a while, all these events will liven up the office, create more friendships and strengthen teamwork.
If you have weekly meetings, make them more fun. Challenge every attendee to bring a funny joke to the meeting and share them throughout the meeting. Or, show a 5 or 10 minute John Cleese video or other funny standup comedy video clip.
Start a weekly or monthly “happy” hour, with the sole purpose of people getting to know each other. There are plenty of books available with lots of idea on team building activities you can do with your group. Or, invite a motivational speaker to your happy hour meetings.
#5 Immerse & Interact – On an individual basis, get to know every single person you work with, talk, laugh, eat together…knowing who you work with will make working with them easier and effortless.
If you want more success and productivity at work – try making your workplace more fun. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.