ELEVEN

Kicks
GET SOME

Ponder this: Do you hold the “all work, no play” philosophy—
where work is simply not the place for fun?

How do you feel about fun at work? Do you believe in it? Have it? Support it? Make it happen? Discourage it? Evaluate your own assumptions about fun at work. Then consider creating and supporting kicks in the workplace as one way to keep your best people.

Research shows that a fun-filled workplace generates enthusiasm—and that enthusiasm leads to increased productivity, better customer service, a positive attitude about the company, and higher odds that your talent will stay.

Fun for One—Fun for All?

When was the last time you had fun at work?

• Last year?

• Last month?

• Last week?

• Yesterday?

If your answer was yesterday, you’re probably smiling as you read this.

Of course, one person’s fun can be another person’s turnoff.

Management, Regarding Personal Days at Work—Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturdays and Sundays.

Did you grin? Grimace? Groan—especially in today’s 24/7 work world? Telling jokes may be fun for you and ridiculous (or even insulting) to someone else. Some people get kicks out of decorating your office as a birthday surprise, while others love to take a break to debate some current hot topic or to surf the Web. So remember to ask people, “What makes work more fun?”

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Humorize, and you humanize the workplace.

—Fran Solomon, senior vice empress, Playfair, Inc.

Fun-Free Zone

Unfortunately, many workplaces are fun-free zones. If your employees were to grade you on the degree to which you support fun at work, what would you get? If you say, “I’d get a C+,” why is that? Maybe you just were not raised that way. The bosses you learned from may have been fun-averse, serious taskmasters. Perhaps you believe that allowing fun at work will cause you to lose control or fail to achieve results. You might think that moments of levity will set bad precedents, and the group will never get back to business. Some of your concerns may be based on fun myths about having kicks in the workplace.

Myth Debunking

These myths are just that—myths. Let’s debunk them.

Myth 1: Professionalism and Fun Are Incompatible.

Can you have fun and still maintain a professional work environment? It depends on the kind of fun you are talking about. Slapstick silliness (pie-in-the-face humor) will not fit well in a business-suit environment. But there are many appropriate ways to get some kicks in even the most buttoned-up workplace.

Every month we had client reports due and most of us dreaded the solitary extra-hours work that the task required. So we started planning to stay late one night each month. We went to a deli for snacks and good wine and then held a work party. We were all on our own computers in our own offices, but we took regular breaks, helped each other, enjoyed our food and wine together, and had some laughs in the after-work casual environment. It not only made the monthly task much more enjoyable, but it provided a type of team building.

—Consultant, management consulting firm

In another highly professional work environment, when someone is late to a meeting, they either have to sing a song or tell a new joke (in good taste!). People are on time more often since the new rule, but there is also a guaranteed chuckle as people slide in the door a minute or two late.

Most concern about having fun in a serious workplace is actually concern about inappropriate humor, loud behavior, or poor timing. If employees’ timing is off or their behavior is embarrassing or disruptive, give them that feedback, just as you would about any work behaviors. Having fun at work might actually be an acquired skill for some people. You can help them get better at it!

Myth 2: It Takes Toys and Money to Have Fun at Work.

This is the sister myth to “It takes toys and money to have fun in life.” When we asked dozens of people to reflect on fun times they remembered having at work, here is what we heard. (Notice how many of these examples cost money or involve toys.)

• “No specific time. It was just the day-to-day laughter my colleagues and I shared—mostly about small things.”

• “We decorated my boss’s office for his birthday. We used five bags of confetti from the shredding machine.”

• “Spontaneous after-work trips to the local pizza parlor.”

• “Verbal sparring with my brainy, funny colleagues.”

• “When we had a huge project, a tight deadline, and we had to work all night. I wouldn’t want to do that often, but we had a good time, laughs in the middle of the night, and a thrill when we finished the project.”

• “Receiving this poem from my dedicated, funny employees whom I sent to Detroit on business: ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, it’s 30 below, and we hate you.’”

• “In the midst of a big stressful project, our boss took us to a local park for a volleyball game during lunch. We still talk about it.”

Toys and money certainly can help you have fun, too. Employees in a Danish company use water pistols to discourage mistimed critical thinking during creative brainstorming events.

Microsoft and Amgen are two global companies with “fun” budgets. In both companies, people are expected to work hard and play hard. Their play includes the occasional extravagant party or boat trip. Although employees greatly appreciate elaborate outings, most report that it is the day-to-day work environment that matters most. It has to be enjoyable.

Myth 3: Fun Means Laughter.

Fun often does involve laughter or smiles. Sometimes people just need to take themselves less seriously. Laughter has been called internal jogging, as it has the same positive health benefit as an aerobic run. Supposedly this works through the release of endorphins, the healing elements of the body. And, even better, you can lose four pounds of fat a year by laughing an additional 15 minutes a day!

Did you know: Kids laugh, on average, 400 times/day—adults 12. Hang out with a seven-year-old for a day and count!

But people can have fun at work without laughing or getting silly.

In my company we are more formal and serious. You might call our form of kicks, serious fun. We enjoy celebration and togetherness at the end of a project, during Chinese New Year, on family days, or during team exercise or department meals out.

—Colleague in Singapore

An intriguing project and collaboration with wonderful teammates can truly be fun. Work that is meaningful and makes a difference can be fun. Building something new can be fun.

Some of the most fun I ever had was in the early days of creating a completely new form of airplane. We were building something new that would make a difference. It was difficult and challenging but so much fun.

—Retired aeronautical engineer

Myth 4: You Have to Plan for Fun.

Planned fun makes sense sometimes. The employee softball team provides fun and requires planning, as does an occasional employee picnic or the annual holiday party. But a lot of fun in the workplace is spontaneous.

We had been working so hard and had nailed all of our goals for the quarter. My boss called us into his office and presented the team with movie tickets—for the two o’clock show, that day! It was great. We took off as a group and felt like kids, playing hooky from school. It was so spontaneous and so appreciated.

—City government employee

Unplanned fun can be as simple as showing up at the staff meeting with muffins for everyone, asking a group of employees to join you for lunch at a new restaurant, or taking an unplanned coffee break to just sit and talk about families or hobbies.

Myth 5: Fun Time at Work Will Compromise Results.

This is one of managers’ largest concerns. Somehow many of them feel that every minute spent chuckling is a minute lost toward bottom-line results.

Fun-loving environments are actually more productive than their humorless counterparts. A fun break can reenergize your employees and ready them for the next concentrated effort. In one Microsoft group, employees take breaks whenever they want by surfing the Web or playing games on their computers. They say that these playful activities clear their minds so that when they return to the project at hand, they are fresher and sharper.

We have a tradition of celebrating birthdays. We recently celebrated the birthday of our financial officer with a special morning tea. We always sing happy birthday, share a funny story or two, and chat over tea and cake. Yes, it’s a chunk of time out of the morning, but we’ve had a few laughs, our financial officer has been valued (and he truly is!), and everybody goes back to work.

—Matt Hawkins, New Zealand ministry

You might be thinking, “If I allow my employees to surf the Web or celebrate birthdays during work, they will never get their work done.” Maybe you believe that only exceptional employees can be trusted to that degree. The secret to allowing fun at work is to be crystal-clear with your employees about their performance goals. Co-create measurable and specific goals with them; then evaluate their performance using those goals.

Some of the most productive, successful organizations in the world are renowned for fun. Southwest Airlines chairman of the board Herb Kelleher set the famous Southwest tone. He has loaded baggage on Thanksgiving Day, ridden his Harley-Davidson motorcycle into company headquarters, and golfed at the Southwest golf tournament with just one club. He even arm-wrestled another CEO for the rights to an advertising slogan.

Southwest flight attendants get their kicks by singing the departure instructions to their passengers. All this fun and they still get results. On January 24, 2013, Southwest proudly announced 40 consecutive years of profitability, a record unmatched in commercial airline history. They’re also ranked first in America’s Happiest Airlines for Holiday Travel by Forbes for the third consecutive year and one of the Five Most Likeable Companies of 2012 by Likeable Media. Finally, they were recognized by Glassdoor.com as the Employees Choice Awards Best Place to Work 2013.²⁶

If you aren’t having fun in your work, fix the problem before it becomes serious: ask for help if you need it. If you can’t fix it and won’t ask for help, please go away before you spoil the fun for the rest of us.

—Russ Walden

Myth 6: You Have to Have a Good Sense of Humor (or Be Funny) to Create a Fun Work Environment.

Some of you aren’t funny. Well, you aren’t. And that’s okay. Many terrific bosses are not necessarily funny (or even very fun-loving). In many cases, they simply allow others’ humor and playfulness to come out. They support rather than create fun at work. Let others initiate the kicks if fun is not your strength.

Our national director recently did something very unusual (for him) at our monthly strategy meeting. He asked each of us whether we preferred Coke or Pepsi. Depending on our answer, he pulled a Coke or Pepsi out of this bag. He never does things like that. It was a riot!!

—Employee from a nonprofit organization in Russia

You might bring fun into your workplace by having brown bag lunches with interesting speakers and topics. During a hobby-sharing lunch, one employee took everyone to a local park to demonstrate his remote-controlled airplanes. Another brought a local merchant to give a session on wine tasting. Another invited the local golf pro to give everyone a lesson.

Fun is a state of mind. Leaders can create this state of mind—but to do so, they must care about people, show trust and appreciation, be humble enough to join in and believe it is a good use of time! Joy is the lasting by-product of having fun and being with folks that give you energy. Leaders can bring joy to people’s lives, even when things are tough. Creating a sense of being a part of something very special is the key.

—President of a major airline company

Bottom Line

Experience in companies of all sizes proves it: fun enhances creativity, fosters commitment, improves morale, mends conflicts, and creates effective customer relationships. It enhances workplace productivity when work goals are clear. Let fun happen. That fun will energize, motivate, and keep talented people on your team.