By making the work place more fun, you will see the benefits for you and your employees. It is a no brainer, make it more fun and they will want to work. Make someone's day, true leadership is about inspiring others.
Enjoying work also means that there is better team communication and relationships amongst employees and a greater sense of service to one another.
To ensure that your employees enjoy their work you have to create a culture where fun is supported and promoted in your work environment. (And, here’s a hint: company culture is not optional; it happens either way, whether you like it or not.)
Since employees are coming to work either way, why not make it more fun for them to enjoy and reap all the benefits?
Make the work place a happy place
If you’re ready to add some enjoyment to your work environment, think about some of these fun-filled tips:
1. Choose your energy.
When you wake up each morning, you get to make a choice about what type of day you’ll have. If you want to enjoy your day and have your employees love their jobs, choose a positive attitude and outlook.
Your energy drives your attention, thoughts, feelings, and actions. Choose wisely.
Create the perfect early morning habits.
2. Show up!
In other words, when you pass someone in the hallway and ask the obligatory, “How are you?” be prepared to stop and actually listen. It’s not meant to be a rhetorical question!
I’ve always had this silent rule that if I’m within 15 feet of someone I will smile and acknowledge their existence. If I’m within 5 feet, I speak. It’s the small things. Seriously.
When people know you care about them on a personal level, they will treat you more like family.
3. Make someone’s day.
True leadership is about inspiring others. There’s no better way to do that than to share how much you value them and their hard work.
When you take the time to praise someone, compliment them, send a quick note, or even smile at them you can completely change someone’s entire day!
4. Celebrate!
This is psychology in action. When you celebrate people’s successes, you activate what we psychologists call the Progress Principle which states that the single best thing you can do to affect motivation and positive emotion is making progress in meaningful work.
At one company I worked, managers handed out certificates that said, “Caught Ya Doing Something Right.” The employee also got a balloon so everyone could see their win and congratulate them.
5. Promote more fun in the work environment.
This means playing around more yourself AND finding ways to incorporate fun into everyday activities.
You have to model these behaviors to show your employees that it’s okay to have fun, too! Remember, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!”
Here are a few ideas to consider:
• Make meetings less miserable by playing a quick game. Ask an unexpected fun-fact or have someone share their best part of the day so far.
• Install a “Fun Committee” to come up with ideas for how to add more enjoyment to the workplace. This is a 2-in-1 because those who volunteer will enjoy the activity and everyone will benefit!
• Create “Free Time” for employees to work on anything they want. Companies like Google and Zappos have really leveraged this 20% rule to their benefit. Some of their most innovative work solutions are created on these days.
Having fun doesn’t mean nothing gets done. On the contrary, you’ll experience more enjoyment, productivity, engagement, and camaraderie.
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