Are Your Employees Having Fun Yet?
Are you having fun as a manager or is it a lot of work? Is your team enjoying themselves? How often do you hear laughter flowing through the workspace?
We get so busy doing the work that we forget how important it is to enjoy the people we work with. Everyone is there to do a job and that’s fairly obvious to most people. Yet, as their manager, you need to know that happy employees are productive and definitely more loyal to you and the company.
Fun comes in different formats: planned fun events such as company picnics, holiday parties or special launch events. Then there is the spontaneous fun experience…the manager brings in bagels and muffins…just because.
Both kinds of fun build employees productivity, though the “every day type of fun “adds more value to the overall happiness of your employees.
Question: Do you say “we have so much work to do, that it is impossible to fit in a fun event during the day.” If you were to create a 10-minute fun experience for the staff, would the work really suffer? I don’t think so! It’s all a matter of “priority” that fun is for you and your team.
You’re the manager…you set the tone of a working environment…will there be fun or not? Fun energizes your team. Start small and build your “fun” muscles.
Here are some fun ideas that you can bring back to your team:
· Create “fun specialists” that generate fun ideas…you can have an opinion here.
· Food is always a great way to bring people together. Bring in bagel and muffins in the morning, put out some candy, pop some popcorn or pizza for lunch. Whatever your budget, you can always find a goody to share.
·One company had employees from different countries….they had a potluck luncheon where everyone brought in a special ethnic dish to share with others.
·Have someone organize a Friday night after work gathering
· Birthday fun….bring in a balloon or whatever fun idea you have to recognize a person’s birthday. Or have a birthday card passed around for everyone to sign and then give it to the “birthday” person.
·New hire gathering. One company of 20 people scheduled a half-hour before the close of the day for a “cookies and drinks” event. Everyone introduce himself or herself to the new person, sharing with the new person one fun fact about themselves. Lots of laughter going on here and the new person felt it…..what a great way to introduce this person to the team. By the way, the new person also had to offer one fun fact about themselves.
·Schedule spontaneously a “random acts of kindness” day where everyone has to do one kind thing to someone that day without them knowing…bring in lunch, or as the day closes, come together over some goodies to celebrate a great day.
I found this list on www.leadingtoday.org about creating a fun workplace and thought this would be great material in your own brainstorming:
Here are some zany ways to celebrate:
Christmas in July
Unbirthday Parties
Bad Hair Day
PJ Day
Come Dressed as Your Favorite Holiday Day
Elvis Day
Polka Dot Day
Dress Your Boss Day
Foreign Language Day (speak only in a foreign language or with a fake accent)
Crazy Hat Day
Clash Day
Dress up or Down Day
Tie Day
Mismatched Sock Day
Backwards Day
Movie Theme Day (pick a favorite)
Have fun today!
Pat
Other Topics:
Coaching Your Employees Can Be Fun
How To Build Trust With Your Employees
Flexible Work Environment
