Mixing Business with Pleasure: Eight Tips for Having More Fun at Work

Okay, there seems to be some controversy about the real "Have Fun at Work Day." While most say it takes place on January 28th each year, some say it is January 30th, and others believe it is April 1st. Whichever day you choose to celebrate (Personally, I think we should celebrate everyday!), the most important action you can take is to have fun at work as often as possible in order to boost morale and increase productivity.

According to the Humor at Work Institute, the best way to have more fun at work is to build fun into your corporate culture by creating the type of work environment where people want to spend one-third (or more) of their waking hours. To help you, here are eight ideas for having more fun at work:

Lighten Up

Unfortunately, there seems to be a notion that the only way to be professional is to be serious. Instead, lighten up the mood at work by promoting the benefits of humor: reduced stress, lower blood pressure, and connecting with others. Be sure to define exactly what humor is and isn't appropriate (i.e., no off-color jokes, sexual humor or mean-spirited humor).

Create a Bravo Board

Using a whiteboard in a central location along with various colored pens, allow employees to write meaningful "thank you" notes to their coworkers for random acts of kindness. This gives everyone the opportunity to participate and see what others have done to help their fellow workers.

Hold Healthy Competitions

If you work in sales, you already know how cutthroat the competition can be. However, competition can be fun, too. Hold healthy competitions such as idea contests (i.e., name the company newsletter or a new product), lunchtime card-playing competitions, and other friendly challenges.

Add a Funny Board

Put a bulletin board in a central location and allow employees to pin up appropriate comic strips or other jokes, especially those that gently poke fun at working. Make it a competition by voting on the best one for the week (or month).

Have a "Happy Hour"

Instead of having a few coworkers get together at the local pub on a Friday night after work, turn your conference room into the meeting place. Bring in nonalcoholic beverages and snacks along with a television (or two) to view sporting events.

Update the Break Room

Sometimes, the only protection against going crazy is to walk out of your office or cubicle and take a break. With toys in the break room, employees have the opportunity to take that much-needed break and relieve their stress at the same time. When stocking your break room, consider items like board games (for lunchtime) as well as Nerf balls, Play-Doh, bubbles and Silly Putty. See our companion article Break Room Design for Fun, Functionality and Feng Shui.

Sound the Buzzer

Employees need to be encouraged to find balance between work and home life. To help employees accomplish this, sound a buzzer (or bell) half an hour before closing time. Employees are then encouraged to begin wrapping up their work and to start writing their "to-do" lists for the next day.

Develop Petiquette

You might not feel your organization can embrace a full-out pets-at-work policy, but you might be able to swing a "Take Your Dog to Work Day." Sponsored by Pet Sitter's International, TYDW Day started in June 1999 and is an annual event created to celebrate man's best friend and encourage people to adopt a dog of their own.

The whole concept behind having fun at work is to create an environment where employees desire to do a good job because simply being there is a reward in and of itself. And, if you have any innovative ideas about how to build more fun into the workplace, we would love to hear from you.