Fun in the workplace
Some people think workplace is not designed for having fun or work isn't the place to be happy.
I recently watched a video of Holly Cummins at YOW! 2022 with title “The Importance of Fun in the Workplace”. This is the link to original video on YouTube if you want to watch in full.
I actually love the presentation she went through. In a lot of companies, I believe we use to ignore the most interesting part of the business is to have fun at work.
Let’s talk about some reasons why should we need to have fun in the workplace:
Job satisfaction is the no #1 predictor of organizational performance.
Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. (Positive Intelligence by Shawn Anchor)
Individuals who just watched a comedy video have approximately 12% greater productivity. (Happiness and Productivity)
Fun has strong connection with Psychological safety which dramatically increases productivity at work.
Here are ways you can get more fun at work:
Stop prohibiting fun.
Find un-fun things and get rid of them.
Do fun pair-programming instead of boring meetings.
Collaboration over criticism.
Learning instead of repeating.
Interaction over interruptions.
Making a difference rather than being a cog.
Fast feedback matters.
Gamification. Start integrating game into boring activities. For example, we can have a competition to improve the current code and solve technical debts instead of forcing team’s members to do that.
While a lot of engineers spending time to talk about system design or algorithm but rarely we see they are talking about happiness or having fun at work. These engineers tend to work under pressure environment to provide an excellent products for business, it matters to have fun at work to increase the productivity, reduce technical debts and countless sleepless nights.