CREATING FUN IN THE WORKPLACE
The perception is still widespread that work should not be fun, that fun is something you earn only after you’ve worked hard. That position, once the bedrock of workplace behavior, is changing. Many companies have shown that the integration of fun and work not only improves the day-to-day relationships and atmosphere of the workplace, but also it can positively improve the net worth of the company.
Our attitude toward work is not an absolute. Work and our perception of work has changed and evolved. Each of us adopts the attitude toward work that our parents taught us, or assimilate the attitude held by whoever is exerting the strongest current influence, perhaps our peer group or our employer. For many of us, work has become who we are. It’s how we define ourselves.
Attitudes Toward Work Are Changeable
When we look at the timeline of work attitudes, we can see that work has evolved from Aristotle’s “work is for slaves” to Calvin’s “work is a commandment,” through “work is a virtue” to “work is who I am.” Since general attitudes toward work merely reflects the time, people can intentionally alter their individual attitudes. Specifically, it’s possible to reintegrate fun into our work.
Historically, fun and work have long existed. During the agricultural age, for example, work songs help turn dreary tasks and repetitive actions into activities that, if not fun, at least contained an element of anticipation and comfort. Barn raisings changed a task impossible for one or two people into picnic-styled community event. The element of fun turned an impossible task into an eagerly anticipated one, one at which friends, family, and neighbors worked side by side for the common good, caught up on old times, and shared food with one another. Vestiges of this behavior are seen when people get together on a Saturday during communal environmental sanitation activities in most states in Nigeria.
The concept of work is again in the midst of change. We are rediscovering that fun belongs with work, and that when it’s isolated, work isn’t fun. Fun and naturally go together: fun works, and work is more productive when it’s fun.
How To Make It Happen
Successful companies have learnt that integrating of fun and work have the following advantages:
- Stimulates creativity and innovation;
- Fosters commitment and ownership among all members of the organization;
- Creates and secures employee morale;
- Increases productivity;
- Counters the effects of stress;
- Guides against burnout;
- Becomes the glue for social relationships;
- Mends conflicts;
- Stimulates renewal and activity;
- Reduces absenteeism;
- Creates stronger, deeper, long-lasting customer relationships.
The successful integration of fun and work comes from the following principles:
- Give permission to perform: Because of our attitude that fun isn’t appropriate in a work environment, fun won’t appear unless it is invited. It is essential to give permission to individuals to bring the best of themselves to work each day. This requires a superb leader to create the vision, set the tone for the journey, and believes that only by integrating fun and work can the best results be achieved.
- Trust the Process: Fun takes root in organizations that are high-trust rather than high-fear. The more trust we show, the more fun there is; the more fun there is, the more trust we show. Fun is an energy force that can’t be mandated or controlled by rules. If you trust people with your company’s most valuable assets, why not trust them to use their judgment in bending fun with work?
- Be authentic and conscientious: Because we are changing mindsets, this requires initial effort. The integration of fun and work requires a being state, not a doing state. Attitude isn’t a veneer that’s applied to a new employee, it’s an intrinsic quality that emerges naturally. Search out authentic people who enjoy life and enjoy being around people, and then train them in specific job skills after they’ve been hired.
- Celebrate: What gets recognized gets repeated; what gets celebrated becomes a habit. Individual recognition and group celebration fuel high performance. Make an effort to compliment people doing something right. There is nothing more fun than celebrating a success.
Business works best when fun and work are successfully integrated. It disproves the commonly held perception that there is no place in the work environment for fun. No longer should we believe that the only time we can have fun is when the work is over, or that the only way we can have fun is to earn it through hard work
Companies that integrate fun and work are best able to attract and retain peak performances in an economy that promotes and rewards the rapid and constant changing of jobs.
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