PART IV

Organization-Oriented Fun

Ultimately, fun works best when it is openly encouraged throughout the organization and becomes an expected and anticipated part of everyone’s role and experience at work. This doesn’t tend to happen by accident, but rather from a systematic application and appreciation of the topic by a significant portion of its members.

Ideally, top management would encourage and support fun in the work environment, even participating in the process. But creating a fun-oriented organization does not have to be dependent solely on its senior leaders.

For example, an easy starting point is to create a Fun Committee that is represented by individuals from a cross section of your organization (including an executive “sponsor”) to brainstorm, prioritize, and implement fun activities on an ongoing basis.

We’ll examine general working conditions, down to specific categories, and how to make traditional office celebrations and events more fun for everyone.

A critical mass of employees focused on fun activities can help to shape the culture of the organization over time until it becomes an accepted and embedded part of “how we do things around here.” Some organizations even go so far as to list Fun as one of their core behavioral values that the organization aspires to have as an integral part of how it chooses to function and a cornerstone of the organization’s success.