Work is engaging

In the “engagement” grail quest, many companies confuse people having fun at work with a need to make the workplace more fun. The result is too often things like “Hawaiian shirt Fridays” and other good-time obligations that hum with awkwardness rather than any successful and sustainable “fun culture” initiatives.

Fun is what happens when we play. At work, having fun is not the objective. We come to do a job and to get paid. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get a sense of accomplishment, involvement, or even doing something good. We know how to have fun and do so in our own lives and it can be insulting when your company tells you that you aren't having enough fun doing it and then gives you some arbitrary new bar to jump so that you can prove you aren't just competent but that you're also a "team player".

That said, having fun at work is a possible outcome of a well-functioning workplace where people feel confident in themselves and their teams, clear on their role and how it delivers on “the big picture”, aware of their priorities, and recognized for their successes.

As a leader, you can make the workplace more fun by ensuring your team understands what it is to be focused on, that they have the tools, training, and structure to do it, that communications are clear, that dialogue is encouraged, and that you celebrate your successes. When this happens, the activity that is “the work” has the potential to become more play-like and fun grows organically from the relationships of the individuals involved.