*PLURK* Play At Work
What do you do to make work FUN? Are you adding ENERGY and JOY to your team?
Prior to founding Arrive At Happy, I was a Director of Sales & Marketing for lifestyle and luxury hotels for 14 years. I led teams of sales and events professionals and motivating people was one of my favorite parts of the job. We were always responsible for large revenue goals and customer satisfaction & the people I hired were driven and competitive. I am definitely a driver, yet I always prioritized fun and play at the hotels that I worked at.
Dr. Stuart Brown, is the founder of the National Institute for Play, and he states, “when employees have the opportunity to play, they actually increase their productivity, engagement and morale.”
We spend a tremendous amount of time at work and why not make it fun and enjoyable? As a leader, I craved laughter, games, jokes, and movement to break up my routine of meetings and conference calls. I found that it built camaraderie and my team members were loyal to me, the organization, and each other.
Here is an acronym for you to incorporate into your teams!
Make
It
Playful &
Great
Make your meetings fun by starting them off with creative ice breakers and games! This only takes 10 minutes out of your agenda and builds connected relationships. It starts off the meetings on a positive note and you cannot go wrong starting with laughter! Here is an example of a list of fun icebreakers!
Incentives and contests are a simple way to boost morale and play in the office. You can create boards that resemble a horse or car race, have monthly prizes for certain accomplishments, and create team incentives where everyone can win cash or a spa certificate for example. I would involve my team in creating incentives that would really motivate them!
Play with music! Have each person on your team come up with their own theme song and create a team playlist. When someone has a win, play their song so that everyone can hear. If the person wants to, they can get up and dance to it! Whenever you can incorporate a music break in the day, it will decrease stress.
Go outside! One tradition that my team and I really enjoyed were our weekly walks together. I put a block in everyone’s calendar from 2:00 – 2:30pm every Wednesday and instructed everyone to have walking shoes at their desk. Each week a group of us would go for a 30-minute walk and always take a group selfie. Not everyone would be able to make it each week, but there was a commitment to get some fresh air, walk and talk. It made us so happy!
“When employees take time out to play, it lessens the stress of work, which leads to less sickness, a more positive attitude and more energized work environment.” – Michelle Burke, The Energy Catalyst Group