Having fun at work creates a healthy environment, where people can be the best they can be. It also creates a closer relationship between leaders, managers and employees.

Today, all the great working environments are fun. It is believed that that fun may be the single most important trait of a highly effective and successful organization. Companies that integrate fun into work culture have lower levels of absenteeism, greater job satisfaction, increased productivity and less down time.

Having fun boosts our ability to think outside the box and solve problems. Fun is a great creative engine. What’s more, people are attracted to fun workplaces. A recent survey showed that managers who were perceived as fun increased the loyalty and productivity of their staff.

Some of the Fun measures that can be followed in the organization:

Hire competent employees who already value fun and have a sense of humor.

If you begin with employees who already have humor and fun as part of their personality and style, they will automatically bring these qualities to their job. They will already have the skills you want to nurture throughout the organization. A core of people with strong humor skills is one of the most important keys to helping other employees build up these skills.

Assume the role of a Joker in your team

One of the team members can assume the role of a joker and can steer the team towards having good fun by balancing both time and work. The Employee can come up with some interesting activities which can lead to team building, better understanding of the team and maintain the fun quotient all the time. The responsibility of the HR or the Manager is to identify such people in the team and motivate them to bring about a change in the way we work and the way we have fun. Try starting the day by sending a humor filled message across to all your teammates and it really works.

Keep the Second Half of Friday’s off:

The Second Half of Every Friday can be kept open for the employees to be their own self, asking them to come up with some crazy ideas, gossip sharing, watching a short movie with your team mates in one of the conference rooms (for a change the conference rooms can be used as a mini theatre).The main purpose of this break is to make the employees feel relaxed to the start of the weekend so they come back with high energy on Monday Mornings and start the week on a high productivity note.

Decorate your Office:

If you have the art of turning a plain wall or a cubicle into something which looks funny, hilarious and appreciated by everyone then you are the master of your own space. Posters, hilarious write-ups, some funny facts can adorn the walls which can be changed once in a fortnight to make the place livelier. You can also have a library set up with books solely based out of humor be it books like Archie’s, Dilbert, Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle so that when employees really feel stressed out they can find a perfect book to relax it out. You can also surround yourself with things that brings joy when you look at it such as

• Family or pet photos in unique frames
• Bright colors that make you feel good
• Personalized note cards

Potluck Session:

A potluck is a gathering of people where each person or group of people contributes a dish of food prepared by the person or a group of people. This helps in team building and also getting to understand the team better. The Potluck session can be planned inside the office or as an informal get together in one of the colleague’s place. Though this involves little hard work but the time spent on this would be valuable and this can be repeated on a quarterly basis.

Start a Competition

Starting a competition with your co-workers can be a great way to add a little fun to your day.

Your competition can be based on your work or completely non-work related. Find an interest you share with your peers and have fun with it. You can have in bay competitions like Dart and Arrow, Paper flight reaching the longest distance, indoor golf to name a few.

Take Control of your Boardroom

Boardrooms necessarily need not be the place for having serious discussions. Fun aspect can be a part of the boardroom meeting. Light conversations can be included as a part of the meeting and this will make way for a engrossing team meeting rather than having a one way meeting where the manager keeps talking and the others listening

• Start meetings on a positive note with good news or something upbeat or funny.
• Grab their attention in a presentation with a humorous twist.
• A list of interesting, funny things that have happened to the employees in between the meetings can be shared.

Slam Book of your Own Teammates:

How many of us remember the Slam Book that we filled when we were in College, School – Let’s repeat it

We can have the employees fill the book get to know their likes and dislikes and we will be able to plan for surprises accordingly for the employee’s special occasion. This would make the employee feel special in the organization and any achievements made at work can also be updated by the HR in the scrap book.

While making the effort to bring elements of fun into your work, always remember to continue taking your work seriously while taking yourself lightly. You can remain professional and competent and still bring a sense of humor and fun to your job.