Fun at Work
Fun at Work
Thoughts from our Happiness Ambassador, Amy, on why we should be having fun at work.
In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.
-Mary Poppins
How does one get to become a Happiness Ambassador? I recently re-watched my job application video, because after five years with Team Boo, I’ve forgotten which bits of me I brought with me and which bits I’ve absorbed on the job.
The main theme of that video was the importance of experiencing joy at work, my belief that happy people made productive employees and my fond memories of having fun in various workplaces over the years.
What did I list as my greatest achievement in my career so far? Making my colleagues in one of my former workplaces look forward to Mondays, when I would release my ‘overheard in the office this week’ document, and the whole team would spend ten minutes laughing heartily at themselves. For those ten minutes, nobody was giving their whole focus to the job in hand.
However, their brains were now full of chemicals that made them feel good.
Soon, they began to associate Mondays with this feeling of positivity, and the workplace as somewhere they liked to be.
This kind of thing is something I’ve always done instinctively, without examining my motivations or analysing it particularly as a value or a strength. However, when I joined Boo, I was encouraged to identify my core values, and to use Gallup’s CliftonStrengths finder to find my top five strengths.
One of those top five is ‘Positivity’. The description for people with this strength includes these lines:
“Somehow you can’t quite escape your conviction that it is good to be alive, that work can be fun, and that no matter what the setbacks, one must never lose one’s sense of humour.”
– Gallup Clifton strengths ‘Positivity’
This made sense. Yet, when I worked out my core values (using Boo’s values cards) I distinctly remember discarding the word ‘Fun’. Fun is rollercoasters and parties, right? Fun is something that requires energy, and being around a lot of other people – and I am, in fact, an introvert who is quite good at pretending not to be.
I recently decided to finally include ‘fun’ in my core values, interpreting it differently this time. Because fun is subjective, yes it usually involves other people – but then, so does most work.
Fun at work is about bonding, humour, connectedness. It’s forming those shared memories with co-workers that lighten your heart when you look back on that job.
It’s including elements of playfulness into your work life – in one job that was rainbow Wednesdays (because we were all wearing head-to-toe black so regularly), a colour chart with how everyone likes their tea (American Tan tights for Tony), and a pet plant (call Ann). In every job, for me, it’s included storytelling, creativity and some kind of fancy dress.
Fellow Good Employment Charter members, the embroidery company One+All, have a pair of massive frogs guarding the entrance to their building. Those frogs are the one element of joy visible on the austere industrial estate on which they are located. At the very least, those frogs pique your interest and makes you wonder who works inside. For me, they lifted my spirits and set the tone for an enjoyable visit. Another fun element of this company is the Wheel of Fortune. The employee of the week gets to spin this, and fate determines their prize – might be an extra day off, might be a mars bar… the game is an incentive either way.
Some people might see fun as unprofessional, unbusinesslike, wasting time; a distraction from productivity, a break in focus. I disagree. We can’t spend every moment working solidly in flow. We need renewal. Incorporating fun is an investment of time that builds resilience, motivation, energy and positive association with our work.
“Some senior executives would think of happiness as sort of a luxury at work – yeah its nice if we can make people happy but it’s not our responsibility, it’s not in our remit or one of our targets.
I think this is a very big mistake. As a matter of fact, happiness is one of the top business success strategies that any company can every adopt.”
And what is a key element of happiness? Fun.
People who have fun at work are more creative, more productive, more engaged. They are happier, which means colleagues like them and customers like them. Fun is good for us.
“Where people aren’t having any fun, they seldom produce good work.”
― David Ogilvy, Confessions of an Advertising Man
Yet fun cannot be forced or imposed by the leaders of organisations, it’s something that happens naturally when people are free to be their authentic selves at work, when they are allowed to use their creativity in a light hearted way, and when they are welcome to bring in elements of what they are good at and what is important to them.
Fun at work is in the rituals, the in-jokes, the friendly rivalries, the memes, the music – whatever joyful magic that particular combination of people creates. Fun is both a cause and an effect of happy, healthy workplaces – and that’s what we’re all about.
Happiness at work is your most effective business strategy
The smartest of all business leaders will include within their remit to create an organisation that is happy.
-Mo Gawdat
