FUN AND LAUGHTER IN THE WORKPLACE

For my money, fun and laughter are two of the best ‘life catalysts’ you can get. If you’re having a way old time peppered with laughter, it doesn’t matter what you are doing, it will be done with enthusiasm and verve. Time will seem to whiz by. You’ll look back at what you’ve achieved and think, ‘Wow I had a good time can’t wait to do it again.’ Research even suggests that you’ll get more done, but getting paid for such a thing is not so common. The association between fun and the workplace is not high. My ambition is to change all that.

The authors of the recently released book "The Levity Effect" (Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher) present the argument that if you lighten up the workplace you'll be "laughing all the way to the bank". They explain that fun at work "can provide a competitive advantage, help attract and retain employees, and provide the spark to jumpstart creativity."

In short, a happy workplace is said to improve communication and morale, lower the level of employee churn, and foster employee loyalty. Increased profits are assumed to follow.

Strong evidence certainly supports this claim. As The Economist reports, companies that are classed as "great" to work for by the Great Place to Work Institute score unusually high marks from employees on the question, "Are you working in a fun environment?" Great companies scored 81% on this, compared to 62% for companies ranked "good".

Another study by Ipsos found that 90% of employees who rate their managers' sense of humor as "above average" expect to be in the same job in a year's time. Those who rate their managers' humor as "average" or "below average" rate their chances of staying at only 77.5%.

“It seems so simple. Increase the fun and make your workplace function better.”

Sure enough it seems that way but fun and laughter can be deceptively tricky to foster. It’s not as easy as putting a pool/ping-pong table in to the lunch area, although it would help. It’s not as simple as sending an all-staffer email joke, although that too would help. Sometimes you need to call in the experts.
At anthill CKD we specialize in getting groups of people laughing and interacting in a new way. We use theatre based exercises to get people out of their desks and having some serious fun. No experience necessary.

Want to know more.
Find us at www.anthillckd.com.au
or send an email to max@anthillckd.com.au
or joh@anthillckd.com.au