Have Fun at Work, Without the Forced Fun
As we wrap up our Music Conductor Leadership series, we enter the bonus round of Have Fun. With all the time we spend at our jobs, having fun at work is required to preserve our sanity. Yet misplaced concepts of workplace fun can bring out the worst in organizations. IBM succinctly clarifies this point:
“Forced fun is an oxymoron; the best fun has an element of spontaneity and no element of coercion or institutionalization. A corporate culture can enable fun, but it can’t mandate it.”
Leaders who want to bring humour and laughter into the workplace need to do so from the heart. If you are comfortable with your own leadership style, you can influence an open and sharing culture that allows humour to permeate the day’s activities. Spontaneity is good for creativity and fun. Even the slightest sense of forced humour will be picked up by those around you, and it will shut down everyone’s fun. Allow yourself, and your team, to be yourselves. When it comes to laughter and fun, au naturel, with respect and decorum, is the way to go.
Remove the Un-Fun by Reducing Boredom
Removing un-fun things from the workplace is a positive move towards making work more enjoyable, or at least less painful. Boredom is often the word we use for un-fun at work. Battling boredom is best done by providing challenge, variety, and visibility.
6 Fun at Work Ideas for Leaders
1. Witness results first-hand
Think about the recipients of your work. Your intention might be to create an impact they love, yet you may never truly realize the impact you have made until you witness it first-hand. Research shows that people who go and see their work being received are 17 times more likely to be passionate about their work.
2. Get serious about flexibility
Hybrid working may be the change of pace your employees are looking for. In some operations, a simple change from a morning shift to the afternoon production team can make all the difference.
3. Job rotation
Whether semi-annual, quarterly, monthly, or every few shifts, rotating jobs in the factory or the office reduces boredom and builds strong back-up and quality benefits for the company.
4. Automation
Automation reduces or eliminates mundane, repetitive tasks. It usually takes investment, and the payoff benefits the company and the people who can now focus on more interesting, higher value work.
5. Delegate substantial work
When a leader delegates well, everyone wins. Do not only delegate basic jobs, delegate important, interesting work. This is your job, creating more leaders. As a side benefit, your team members end up with stimulating work that moves their careers forward.
6. Let them pick a project
Even better than delegating, empower your team members to pick projects that interest them, rather than having you decide.
Ready to Energize Your Culture?
We hope you have enjoyed our Music Conductor Leadership series. Explore more leadership insights on the Sage & Summit blog. If it is time to get serious about leadership development, take a look at our leadership training programs
