You frown so much it looks permanent.

            Although your cool on the outside you are stressed out all the time on the inside.

            You can't let go of a mistake you or and employee made

            You can't sleep through the night

            You have nightmares about work. 

Mini steps that you can take: 

Learn to take yourself lightly and take your job seriously. Leaders without a sense of humor are like a lawnmower at the cemetery. They have lots of people underneath them but no one is paying attention!

Look for ways to introduce fun and humor into your workplace. Start to use ice breakers and energizers in meetings. Start asking people “Are we having fun yet?”  This will get them to ask themselves "Is this any fun at all?" Bookmark our site and keep checking back for tips and ideas on how to add fun to work.

“Learn to laugh at yourself, you will never run out of things to laugh at.” – Leo Buscaglia

Make fun a priority. It’s easy to agree with the need to have more fun at work. It’s like motherhood and apple pie. We all agree they are good thing – but life sometimes gets in the way. The only way around this is learn to make fun a priority.

Give yourself and your employees permission to play – then get out of the way!  Create an atmosphere that encourages play. 

2. Motivating Employees To New Heights

People do what they do because of what happens to them when they do it.

At the end of the workday people either leave more motivated to come back and do their jobs again tomorrow or less motivated as a result of what happens to them that day. 

Performance is all about what happens every day. When asked most employees say they do not give 100% at work. In fact, studies have shown that nearly 44% of workers say they do what is required of them and hold back any extra effort.

It’s called discretionary effort and it’s like loose change in a person’ pocket. It is leadership’s job to find ways to get employees to want to spend it all every day.

The best way to motivate employees is through Positive Reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement occurs all the time and you don't even realize it.  When you walk into a room and turn on the light, you get positive reinforcement that the switch works when the light comes on.  When you touch your keyboard your computer screen changes. If these things don't happen consistently you would not do them.

The problem with most work is that positive reinforcement has not been designed to be a natural part of the process. If the only positive reinforcement your employees receive is that when they do their best they get more work then you need to examine how to put positive reinforcement into the job, or people will never do their best.

3. Spark Creativity

Creativity is looking at the same thing as everyone else, but seeing something totally different. Play and activities that allow you to be creative spark more creativity. This can allow you and your employees to develop new, effective solutions to old problems by enhancing your ability to see things from a fresh perspective.  

Interject creative activities into work. You can find many activities on our Fun Activity Page.

Think of little kids. Children under the age of five don't have all of the logic and reason clouding their brain as you do when you are older.  They don't think "that can't be done, we've done it before, there is no other way."  Children are masters of their universe. A couch becomes a pirate ship, a tree is their castle, the dog is "Puff" the magic dragon and, yes, the sky really is green sometimes.

If you want to be more creative, humor can help you tap into that five-year-old trapped inside and let him or her out to play for a while.

Do you know what the difference between a creative person and a non-creative person is? The creative person thinks they are creative and the non-creative thinks they are not!  We are all creative. We all have imaginations. We all have the ability to look at life from a fresh perspective.

“Without playing with fantasy, no creative work has ever come to birth.” – C.G. Jung

4. Strengthen teamwork

Adding fun to work helps people to get to know each other a little better. Most employees want to be able to contribute in a meaningful way. People want to know that their work counts for something, that they make a difference in a positive way and are making the best uses of their creative energy.

Moreover people look for real meaning to their work.

Create opportunities for employees to get to know each other at the human level

We hear organizations blabbing about the importance of teamwork, yet few make any concerted effort to do anything about it.  They want everyone to work together however they often forget the human element in the equation. Having clear goals and a well-defined vision are necessary for creating high performing teams. However it takes people to do that. People who get along. People who help each other and people who are willing to give it their all.

You don’t have to like your co-workers, but you do need to work along side them usually five days a week, eight hours a day. Fun activities and workplace humor are great ways to break down the professional barriers. The more we know and understand the human being behind the position, the easier it is to appreciate, respect and understand the real person lurking inside.

Laughter is, after all, still the best medicine as Reader’s Digest says. As reported in American Scientist magazine, people are 30 times more likely to laugh with other people than when alone.

Humor makes us more flexible, less defensive, more open and more approachable – in other words, an ideal “Team player.”

In short, fun and humor is a powerful human connector, and an effective way to say thanks, celebrate in a memorable way and help workers get to know each other at a more human (and humane) level.

Dozens of companies are finding that employees who laugh together, stay together, produce more, invent more and work more cohesively as a team. – Bradford Swift.

5. Facilitating Open Communication

Do you foster a style of communication that supports and encourages each other’s ideas? Or  . . . do you work at destroying each other’s ideas?

Let me provide an example:

I was working at a large insurance company and had what I thought it was a good idea. I mean really a great idea on how we could develop a training system that would allow us to bring on lots of employees at one time with minimal cost.  My boss peered over her glasses in a witchy manner and said “If that was such a great idea, why isn’t someone else doing it?"  I never suggested anything again while I was on that team. I came to work, after dreading it from the time I woke up to the time I left.  I just did my job and went home exactly at the time I could and did only exactly was expected, nothing more.  I had already been told my ideas didn't count. 

I left that department, got a new boss, pitched the idea again and saved the company 11 million dollars in the first year. It earned me a $10,000 bonus, and eventually though the confidence, guidance and support of a fantastic boss, I became the Director of Training for the entire organization. I was able to see many more visions become reality that resulted in better lives for employees and cost savings for the company. 

Phrases (Verbal Communication) That Create Barriers 

It might be hard but don't ever use these phrases:

We tried it before

It will never work

There is no time

Are you nuts

Yeah, right

Let’s keep to what we know works

You’re kidding, right?

What have you been smoking?

Yes, But. . .

There’s no money

We’ve always done it this way

We’ll never get approval

You can’t be serious!

Instead think of communicating with people, who honestly think what they said was right, in a negative manner turn it around. Use a positive open approach like you would with a child that you want to learn. Ask questions back that you need answered or they need to answer for themselves. Think of things to say that will allow the person to think through their idea/suggestion. This way they may help to contribute to the success and growth of the entire organization, which will in turn allow them to grow as a individual. 

6. Minimizing Stress Levels

The biggest problem we all have today is stress. Everywhere you go people are stressed. We live in a very stressful world. Between the demands of life and what you see every night when you turn on the news we all know that stress is an everyday fact of life. You can’t avoid it.

Stress is any change that you must adapt to, ranging from the negative extreme of actual physical danger to the exhilaration of falling in love or achieving some long-desired success.

Day-to-day life confronts even the most well-managed life with a continuous stream of potentially stressful experiences. All stress is not bad. In fact, it is essential to life. Whether the stress you experience is a result of life changes or the cumulative effect of every day worries, it is how you respond to these experiences that will determine the impact stress will have on your life.

Learn how to deal with stress yourself first, and there is always stress. If we had no deadlines, no challenges, no crisis we would be bored, we would not grow as individuals, we would not learn the joy of living. Without crisis and failure there is no triumph in winning and in small victories.

Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it. 

Positive self talk is one of the best ways to control stress.

There are four basic sources of stress.

1. Your Environment - These would be things such as the traffic, weather, noise, and pollution.

2. Social Stress – Deadlines, financial situations, demanding unappreciative bosses, disagreements, presentations, demands for your time and attention, and loss of loved ones.

3. Physiological –Adolescence, menopause, aging, illness, poor nutrition, sleep disturbances, back pain, muscle tension, headaches, stomach aches, and plain old anxiety.

4. Your Thoughts – How your brain interprets the changes happening to your life in other words, changes in your environment, work situations and body determines when it’s going to turn on it’s “emergency response.”

Evaluate the main sources of stress in your life and positively make a commitment to yourself to start doing something about it.

Adding fun to work can help people understand that sometimes all you can do is laugh.

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. . . I myself prefer laughter since there is less cleaning up to do afterwards. – Kurt Vonnegut

Some ideas on how to help relieve stress at work:

Keep a photograph of a place or person you love. Take a 30 second vacation when needed.

Have toys to play with on your desk that help to relieve stress.

Make funny hats or silly props.

Provide workshops for employees such as "Life Is A Banquet - Pull Up A Chair" Click here for more info.

Again Positive self talk is always one of the best ways to control stress. - (Helpful Read What to Say When You Talk To Yourself by Shad Helmstetter)

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures. – Irish proverb

7. Reduce employee turnover and absenteeism

Create A Fun Environment

This means creating a place where people WANT to come to work and do their best.

Relax by lightening up your office:

Play music – some studies how it helps productivity and creativity.

Allow staff to personalize their work areas in fun ways.

Program your computers to play inspirational music each time they start.

Create fun computer screen savers.

Create a humor bulletin board.

Post a humorous quote or thought for the day somewhere highly visible.

Hang a “Lighten Up!” reminder style from your rear-view mirror.

Sing along with the radio.

Make up silly songs as you drive.

Blow bubbles.

Hold a fun awards ceremony midway through a particularly stressful period to give people a break and an energizer.

Create fun team awards to promote teamwork and friendly competition between teams.

Hold contests that involve all employees or even their families.

Have a “Welcome to the company” party for new employees.

Develop a list of possible rewards that employees can receive – and be creative.

Show your appreciation to spouses and /or family members when employees are putting in long hours or traveling a lot on business.

Have a “pass-the-thank you day" Bring one bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates and have them passed from desk to desk at regular intervals.

Tape small treats, like Hershey Hugs, to memos.

Deliver a rousing standing ovation for everyone who makes it to work on a Monday morning.

Stockpile a supply of humorous thank you cards to make thanking people easy

Give away a free lunch a week or a month in the staff cafeteria.

Celebrate every small victory.

8. Improve trust between management and employees

Be Sincere – Dogs know when you’re sincere so your employees probably do to.

Keep It Simple Stupid - KISS!  Think small and simple at first. It does not take a huge celebration or a lot of money to motivate employees.  It is small things done on a consistent basis over time.

Always be honest with yourself and others.

Share information - Share reports, data, information and what you were told. By sharing organizational information with employees you can back up what opinions, speculations and directions from upper management.

9. Offer Dynamic Customer Service

Remember that the message the organization uses to create its culture is the old Golden Rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  Employees learn how the organization plans to really treat it's customers is by how well they are treated.

Creating an environment where employees are happy will be a contributing factor to how well your employees treat your customers.

Provide solid training that demonstrates to employees exactly how the organization expects it's customers to be treated.

Measure people according to what you expect from them.

Constantly provide feedback and follow up training opportunities such as Dealing A Winning Service Hand.

10. Improve Productivity

Set realistic expectations

Measure the right things

Celebrate Small Victories as well as large ones

Reward the right people for the right things

In Summary

When you have high employee morale your employees will be motivated to new heights. By sparking their creativity and strengthening teamwork together they will help to minimize problems and help to create new solutions to old ones. When you talk openly and help to minimize their stress levels they will feel better about themselves, grow as individuals and be glad to come to work. By reducing employee turnover and absenteeism you make it easier on everyone especially the employees who do come in and give it their all every day. When you improve trust between management and employees and you can gain market share by offering dynamic customer service with your happy employees thereby naturally improving productivity!

Humor and adding fun to work is one of the most under valued human resources you have at your disposal.

When we tell people Business FUNdamentals is all about adding fun to the workplace and classroom, a lot of people respond with “You Can’t Be Serious.” And they are absolutely right!

Download a free copy of "Are Your Employees Loyal or Scared To Leave?