During my college, I was always afraid of failing stats (a compulsory subject in the degree). After dropping the course twice, I had to enroll in the course for the third time. By then I was convinced I would never be able to succeed in getting through this subject.
Same goes for the workplace environment. According to a research, if we use comedy and fun positively, it can improve employee productivity by reducing anxiety, boosting participation and increasing motivation to focus more on the real stuff.
We live in a world where depression affects 120 million people worldwide a year. Managers surely do not want to get them or their employees entrapped in the shingles of depression and anxiety. This is the best time to give a thought to assess your leadership skills.
How to Lighten Up Your Workplace?
The adage goes “The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get to the office”.
If you are really interested in making your workplace where people would love to work you must incorporate fun and humor into your workplace.
Start With Yourself
Taking yourself too seriously can be extremely poisonous. Some people think being authoritative and severe can get their work done but to get a positive outcome, you need to have a firm conviction that fun can really lighten up the environment and improve employee productivity.
- Bring along the intent of keeping the environment light and make conscious efforts to create an enjoyable environment
- Assign fun goals time to time. Like finding the most interesting story of the month or toss a challenge “who makes the best coffee”
- Stay Cool – Being a leader you are a role model for your entire team. Never act agitated nor lose self-possession in stressful situations
Learn From Each Other
Employees in a company come from different backgrounds and have different interests. Encourage a learning environment where people can teach different skills to their peers, whether those skills are professional and social. You never know, a member of your team might be very good at playing chess or someone in your team could be a good artist. Have “rotating skill share” sessions among the teams.
Fight for a Social Cause
If a company is socially responsible, it maintains a positive impact on its employees. It makes senior management more reliable and trustworthy. You can arrange a fundraising activity by injecting fun and creativity in it. Plan a “jail and bail game”, send your peers to jail and get others to collect money to get them out on bail by paying some amount of money.
How does it help?
- It allows access between the coworkers and decreases communication barriers
- It helps to neutralize the grudges people hold for each other and creates a friendly environment
- It helps to make egocentric people to blend in with other employees
- Positive atmosphere makes the brain more receptive, which helps to improve employee productivity
- Fun and humor is the best way to keep up your employees’ morale in nerve-wrecking situations and helps in employee engagement and retention
Angela is an employee relations advisor dealing in performance management, providing advice and support on employee relation issues, trends in employment practices and much more for the past couple of years. Writing is her part time hobby majorly covering topics like performance management system, employee productivity and retention, employee engagement and recognition, 360 feedbacks and much more!
