Creating a Fun Work Environment
“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.” - John Cleese
Creating a fun working environment can lead to more creativity and productivity. When employees enjoy their job and aren’t all stressed out they are more apt to get things done.According to Dr. David Abramis at Cal State Long Beach “people who have fun at work are more creative, more productive, get along better with co-workers and are better decision makers. They also call in sick less often.”
When I worked for a company that didn’t encourage fun, there was more stress in the office, employees didn’t work as a team and I found myself less motivated to get things done. Others called in sick frequently. Getting out of bed in the morning was much more difficult because there was no incentive other than money to go to the office.
Creating a fun work environment isn’t difficult. It starts with respect. Do you treat your employees with respect? Are you approachable? Do you create an environment where they can approach you with a problem without fear of negative consequences? When employees don’t feel they are respected the motivation to be productive plummets.
Humor and fun on the job don’t have to interfere with productivity. As long as the humor and fun are part of the subject at hand it helps motivate employees. A laugh now and then can help reduce the stress of a major project that gets bogged down, and change perspective. When the team is trying too hard and the mood is tense try lightening it up. Do a David Letterman’s “top ten” list on the project to break up the tension. Encourage the list to be outrageous. Not only will this reduce the stress, but when you look at the list there may be something on there that might inspire a solution to what was creating the tension in the first place.
March 2nd, 2006 at 7:32 pm
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