Leadership Tips — Fun in the Workplace
“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” — Herm Albright
A few years ago I was boarding a flight on Southwest Airlines. Having gotten to the airport early I was one of the first to board, meaning I didn’t have to fear finding the overhead bins full. What a surprise when I opened the bin and there was no room. Two flight attendants were lying inside! They said “Welcome Aboard” and got my day off to a smiling start.
Now Southwest is well known for a number of things. They are masters of operational efficiency, provide great customer service, they control costs very well and they make money. These are unique strengths in the airline industry. Their pay is, well, average. Their employees are among the most satisfied anywhere. Fun is part of their culture.
Don’t Tell HR
An old boss of mine, a successful senior executive, always had a Vice President of Fun on staff. Now mind you, this was not a full time job, and HR certainly didn’t recognize the person as a Vice President. VP of Fun was not so much a title as it was a role, a key role included in a job, usually that of a strong Executive Administrator.
Her other roles included employee communications, developing presentations for clients, employees and others, handling sensitive personnel matters, and more. But she kept her finger on the pulse of the organization, and was always generating (or stealing) ideas for ways to give people an outlet, to have a little fun.
Fun Is In the Budget
Some ideas cost money, others did not. Many of those with a cost were in fact very cheap, and when budgets were tight she could usually cajole those of us in leadership positions to cough up $10 each for funding.
For big time fun, we always had an annual event, usually outside the office, with spouses included. It was a chance to show people our appreciation. Our VP of Fun planned that event all year long, and she generally had multiple plans working so we could make a choice based on available budget.
As much as people looked forward to that event, and as enjoyable as it always was, the everyday things had a much greater impact on people’s outlook and job satisfaction.
One hot summer day she had a few big containers of ice cream brought in. We on the leadership team put them on a cart and went around to several floors full of people and dished out ice cream for them.
Whenever there was a fund raising opportunity, she would turn it into a contest among different teams of people in the office. Even when we weren’t raising money for charity, she still ran contests just for the thrill of it. Sometimes we had some pretty neat prizes that she was able to talk donors into providing — drinks, meals, movie tickets, etc. Other times she would just have a trophy that would sit in one part of the office, giving that group bragging rights until the next contest.
She arranged happy hours where everybody paid their own way, but lots of people always showed up to unwind a little. When the leadership team got together for annual goal setting, she turned it into a camping trip. We went offsite for minimal cost, got the job done and got in some great team building. We always made s’mores around the campfire.
It’s Cultural
Every leader knows that it’s important to show people their appreciation, and most organizations have some sort of an event once or even twice per year. Our VP of Fun managed to convert showing appreciation from an annual checklist item to a cultural norm.
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