Summary

If you think back over the best workplaces you’ve been a part of, fun was probably a key element. However, the fun was likely to have felt quite natural rather than forced. This week we look at five ways to make the workplace more fun.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode 79 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we tackle one of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we look at five ways to make the workplace more fun.

If you think back over the best workplaces you’ve been a part of, fun was probably a key element. However, the fun was likely to have felt quite natural rather than forced. And, in those examples, the fun probably helped rather than hindered productivity.

When times are challenging, our instinct might be to steer away from an enjoyable and light-hearted approach to work. However it is still possible to take the work and results seriously, while also being less serious about the way we deliver.

Research indicates a number of benefits in having fun workplaces:

Attracting and retaining staff
Engagement
Positive mood and emotions
Increased job satisfaction
Increased organisational commitment
Reduced emotional exhaustion - fun actually buffered employees against the otherwise taxing parts of their role

However building a sense of fun can be tricky to achieve. There’s a fine line between real fun and forced fun.

In a business where I used to work, we had an annual Work Christmas party. This usually included lunch at a nice restaurant and some fun activities. However one year we decided to have a dinner instead. Given it was at night instead of during the day, one team member asked if the Christmas party was compulsory and whether they would be paid to attend. I thought they were joking. They weren’t. It turns out that not all fun is created equal. What one person loves, another despises.

What we are aiming for is fun with a point. It’s not fun for it’s own sake. And that’s where the research can help.

One study focused on four different dimensions of workplace fun and the impact on the level of connection people felt with their organisation. The findings of their study highlighted that not all fun is created equal. They found the following in order of effectiveness:

Fun job responsibilities - fun worked best when it was baked into the job itself
Coworker socialising - fun with colleagues is great and doesn’t need to be formal
Manager support for fun - it helps if your manager actually supports fun in the workplace - again that was quite positive
Formal fun activities - when we try to add fun to work as an additional activity it is far less effective

The key is to make core elements of the work itself more fun. It’s not about adding fun to work (although that still doesn’t hurt), it’s about making the work more fun.

Here are five things we can try as leaders:

It starts by asking a simple question - What do people enjoy doing? Why not ask your team how they think you could make the work more fun? You might be surprised at what people come up with. A team I managed introduced a scoreboard to track their productivity across the day including a mini presentation ceremony. That worked really well for a few weeks to lighten up an otherwise administratively-heavy task.
Provide meaningful core responsibilities. Even mundane tasks can become positive if we can help people to find enjoyment and satisfaction. Link the task to the broader purpose. Work with people to align the work to their interests.
Introduce variety - that might include job rotations, special projects, or opportunities for people to innovate. People love an opportunity to try new things.
See enjoyment as something important to factor in when crafting the job. Give people as much freedom as possible over when and how they complete their work.
Change your mindset about fun. It’s easy to see fun as a waste of time. However, a group of people laughing together can help to build connections, engagement and productivity.

The research clearly shows us that fun with a point can make a great contribution to our workplaces. Why not work with your team this week to get creative and lighten things up?

Research

Michael J. Tews John Michel Shi Xu Alex J. Drost , (2015),"Workplace fun matters … but what else?", Employee Relations, Vol. 37 Iss 2 pp. 248 - 267