Comments

The legal industry isn't a place one would normally look for fun people. I don't believe you can make work fun. Fun is the natural by-product of people who share core values and are passionate about what they do. It's the end result for a team that executes effectively and efficiently. It's what comes from leaders who are consistently there for their people. Fun is the look on our people's faces when they are given the freedom to try something new and they do and it works (or not). It's also the look on our clients' faces when they expect to interact with a stodgy old law firm instead they find some really cool people delivering better solutions less expensively for the client and more profitably for the firm.

Posted by Andrea Riccio at November 6, 2007 3:16 PM

What a terrific subject - thanks for raising this Darci. I left corporate life in healthcare management 3 years ago for many reasons – mostly to do with pathetic, petty and unnecessary rules. Perhaps the final clincher that told me it was time to get the hell out of it was when my ‘boss’ told me and another colleague we were laughing ‘too much’ in the office. I have never understood why some people think that laughing and having a good time at work somehow shows a lack of professionalism. I actually believe the opposite is the case. When people are happy, they smile; and people are likely to be more productive when they are happy than when they are miserable. I have a slide in every presentation that reads ‘It’s really not compulsory to be miserable at work’

I take the view that only sad, lonely, petty and insecure people criticise those who laugh at work.

Posted by Trevor Gay at November 6, 2007 3:50 PM

In 1976 my dad convinced me to abandon my career goals and 'get a real job' because what I wanted to do was fun, not work.

What I wanted to do was learn computer programming; it seemed like it had a future, and that I'd like that future.

Since I ended up in computers anyway, the net result was that I lost almost 20 years to the antiquated idea that work has to be serious.

If you're in control in a business, of course you can make it fun: surround yourself with the right people.

If you're not a decision-maker, you can be the change you want to see, and have the good judgment to jump ship if the captain's name is Bligh.

Rules? For fun? Yeah, maybe in America, where we have to have rules to tell us right from wrong. But again, if you're surrounded by the right people, the fun at work isn't going to fire off lawsuits.

Principles, on the other hand, are necessary. Just like we may need to remind someone what is and is not 'casual work attire', we may need to put the kibosh on doing tequila shooters at the company lunch. Yet once more, with the right group of people, even when reminders are necessary (and they will be) they won't be resented or resisted, and they won't have to become rules.

I worked at my last not-fun job years ago, and I'll never go back.

Posted by Joel D Canfield at November 6, 2007 4:43 PM

I love the sociology of business! I suppose that it's all situational. As a consumer, I have been frustrated at times when my need was serious and the atmosphere of the office I was in wasn't. When my wife was having our first baby, the nurses were chatting away and giggling about their personal stories while she was in labor. They were having a good time but it was distracting and frustrating to us (and especially her). They did their job, but at the time we felt as though our needs weren't being met. It actually caused angst.

In the Air Force, I often got frustrated by fellow airmen/women in my office who spent the day joking around but not doing their work.

Fun is fine, as long as it doesn't take too much time away from the job. If you have a job that can be done while chatting with others or entertaining other distractions, that's cool - but often, fun steps in the way of something productive that can or should be done. Some are able to balance it well. Others aren't.

Does that mean that we should be suit-wearing, serious and glum employees? Absolutely not. We can choose to use a personal tone and even humor when appropriate during the business day, as long as it doesn't detract from what needs to be done.

I stopped wearing a suit about 3 years ago and I can't see myself going back to one anytime soon. Dressing up for me today means a nice jumper and a wool sports coat. Casual and comfy. Steve Jobs is evidence that a suit isn't required to be successful at business. Richard Branson is another example. But I imagine that when it's time to work, they put on their game face and roll up their sleeves.

It's easier for some of us to balance fun and work - those of us who don't watch the clock and are willing to put an hour or two in at night to catch up on some work that didn't get done when we were competing in our Wii tennis tournament in the break room during the day. But for 9-5ers, time spent having 'non-productive fun' is just that - non-productive.

As I said, it's situational. Some can be more productive in 2 hours than others are in 8. If you're one of them, then by all means, have a ball. Others will let work slip at the expense of 'fun'. I'm fortunate in that I actually enjoy the work that I do and become absorbed in it.

Perhaps we have to differentiate between making work fun to do and having fun during (and at the expense of) work.

Posted by Tom O'Leary at November 6, 2007 5:08 PM

If you don't enjoy what you do, what is the point of doing it?

You spend at least 1/3 of each day at work - you may as well extract some enjoyment out of it. As a boss it is my perogative to provide work that people can get enjoyment out of.

Posted by Peter at November 6, 2007 5:20 PM

Sorry to deviate slightly from the subject for a moment Darci - congratulations to The Eagles who have just hit Number One in the UK Album Chart for the first time with their new Album 'Long Road out of Eden' I rest my case on a recent discussion on TP Blog where I got some real stick from US folks (!) about my passion for The Eagles, the greatest US band of all time. What amazed me most was how the normally ultra-patriotic US citizens knocked The Eagles. I am an ultra patriotic Brit and I rate The Eagles second only to The Beatles as ther greatest band ever! Henley is a genius and seeing The Eagles live is to see real musicians in action. I’m proud of The Eagles even if some on TP Blog are not. Maybe The Eagles should come and live in England where we appreciate real musical talent as the album sales show - just joking guys :-) - Class is permanent!

Posted by Trevor Gay at November 6, 2007 5:40 PM

I think this presents us with the challenge of finding people who think their work is fun.

I'm going to add this to my list of interview questions for job candidates. "What is your idea of a fun day at work?"

(I already ask, "When you go to bed at night, what makes you feel good about your day at work?")

If we don't hire people who find their work to be enjoyable, then they'll look for more enjoyable things than work to keep them occupied. Like reading and commenting on blogs. :)

Posted by DUST!N at November 6, 2007 5:44 PM

Ahh, Joel's comment reminded me about my own Father. By his generation's values, and they were great values, I had a great job! A lot of responsibility and a very attractive compensation package, fast tracked on the exec development path, and a heckuva stock package. Well, I quit. My Dad looked at me and asked why on earth I would ever quit that job? I answered that it wasn't fun anymore...He replied "Michael, that is why they call it work".

You just can't give the energy needed to lead if you are not enjoying your work. Of course you have to have fun. And Darci, I have always had fun on our gigs!

Posted by Mike Neiss at November 6, 2007 6:13 PM

Here is an example of the 'schoolboy humour' my friend and I had in the office of my last corporate healthcare job .... we didn't get into trouble with this one - but only because our boss never found out! - enjoy :-)

Dear Colleague

As part of the continuing professional development we have introduced a new feedback system following away days/seminars and teaching sessions to ensure that learning has taken place.

As a result a few people are randomly selected at the end of each session to answer a few simple questions to assure the organisers that learning has occurred.

I hope you don’t mind filling in this short questionnaire and your honesty will be appreciated.

Bill Bloggs (name changed to protect the innocent)
Chief Executive

===============

1 Did you find your way to the venue ok?
2 Was the coffee good? (tea if you drink tea)
3 Was the room comfortable or would you have preferred somewhere with Sky Sports TV?
4 Did you think the standard of dress of delegates was good enough to maintain the professional image of the organisation?
5 Did you fall asleep in any of the presentations? – We need you to name names
6 Do you think it would have helped if jokes had been part of the meeting?
7 Were you able to make the dolls house out of balsa wood without copying your friend?
8 How would you sum up the experience?
9 Could you have benefited from a lady of the night?
10 Was it worth missing out on bacon rolls back at the office?
11 Whilst you were looking through the window (we know you did), did you think the groundsman could have made a better job of the hedges with a Black and Decker 3200?

Posted by Trevor Gay at November 6, 2007 6:29 PM

Thanks for the comments. Funny you should mention "casual work attire," Joel. It is exactly what came to mind as I was writing this. When my company went to "business casual" attire, it seemed people didn't quite understand what that meant and some came to work wearing jogging suits. I'm not sure who in their right mind would think that is appropriate "business casual attire", but then again, common sense isn't all that common, is it? On the other hand, why business casual? Why not just casual? I mean, does a suit make you more productive or smart? Does the person working in the Accounts Receivable department sitting in a cubicle all day need to wear anything more than a jogging suit? Shouldn't it be job/function specific, appropriate to the situation?

In the same vain, to your point, Tom, some people don't know what kind of fun is appropriate or when it is appropriate. And, I agree, fun should not be at the expense of productivity or customer experience, it should actually enhance it. Fun can spawn creativity, it can energize people thereby increasing productivity, it can improve morale, build teamwork, etc...

Fun is not the enemy, right Trevor? I can't believe your boss told you you laugh too much. How absurd! Shame on you for being so much fun to be around! Just stop it! There's no place for that in business!

Posted by Darci at November 6, 2007 11:10 PM

Oh, and by the way, I worked with a client today who does nothing but sit at a computer all day gathering, sorting, slicing and dicing data in a computer to create spreadsheets and she thinks its a blast!

And, Trevor, I think I'll use your feedback form, it probably gives you as useful information as any Level 1 eval. Thanks!

Posted by Darci at November 6, 2007 11:18 PM

We are ABSOLUTELY programmed to think that "work" and "fun" are opposites. The comment above "thats why they call it work" sums it up.

I think the solution is what you might call the role of "humour in the workplace." At a city government department I worked in a few years ago, we brought in Mike Kerr (an Alberta based speaker/consultant/comedian: http://www.mikekerr.com/ ) to do a 1/2 day session on the topic of "humour in the workplace." This was one of the FEW times in my career that I've seen a 1/2 day session lead to such profound attitude and behaviour change. Through that session, we found a way to give ourselves permission to simply have a sense of humour about our work.

Think about it... making it OK to laugh at work made it easier to make mistakes. Now, all of a sudden we're humans instead of drones. AND THATS ALL THERE IS TO IT!

I think my favorite moment was when a group of my co-workers came to work at 6am on a Monday morning and stood at the door with noisemakers, lei's and coupons for a free cup of coffee. When you arrived at the door, the noisemakers went off, you "got lei'd" and zoomed off for your free cuppa. For the rest of the week, the place was buzzing.

The net result? Our department went from being one of the least engaged in the entire bureaucracy to one of the most engaged. Humour up, satisfaction up, and all those other good HR things... way up. (this was all documented in annual employee surveys)

YES you can plan it. YES you should encourage it. YES, you should even put some money into it. (We created three teams, each with a $2000 budget... it led to the above effort, an ice cream cart, an "extreme office makeover" competition, and much more).

We didn't slack off: we were doing important work! We loved the work! And this little jolt of humour made us a team.

Posted by Terry Rock at November 7, 2007 12:07 AM

I wonder why so many managers are afraid of their employees having fun? I have worked for way too many companies where the moral was so high, the employees really get along, but this scares the dickens out of the manager. I do not think that fun gets in the way of business, I can understand the case of the nurses causing a bit of angst in their behavior, of course one should be on their best behavior in front of customers, but why not have fun when the customers are not around? I'm sorry, but sometimes working on that report is NOT FUN! But, yea it has to get done. As long at it gets done, what's wrong with having a few jokes and doing something wacky at the same time?
Sometimes this can be seen as a distraction / I many times see it as a method to get the work done...

Posted by Emma at November 7, 2007 7:56 AM

I wonder if part of the dilemma is that so many people confuse having fun at work (i.e. enjoying work, being friendly, happy, helpful and productive) with those moments when we're laughing at loud at some joke or chatting round the coffee machine.

I work in a small office for a large Japanese multinational where working from home is seen as skiving; where facetime is key (interestingly, the fact that I'm an early bird in before everyone else doesn't count!); where numerous people come in, say "Good morning" and barely move from their workstation all day; and where laughter is inevitably seen as not taking things seriously. They can't understand why the few Europeans here don't stick around for long...

Like many things, he said boringly and in violent agreement with John O'Leary above, it's a question of moderation and balance. Personally, I'm all for humour and fun but I'm also aware that if it's left unchecked, it can get in the way of work. And in terms of office life, it needs a degree of experience to know how much you let ride and then how and when you have to focus everyone on the task in hand.

Darci - in your example I suspect that a change from normal routine and the opportunity to do something you don't normally do provided a great stimulus, plus the thought that you were all mucking in to solve a big problem. It mightn't be such fun if it was your normal job, every day. Maybe the takeaway from that incident is that a little cross-functional awareness or job swapping is a good thing.

Posted by Mark JF at November 7, 2007 8:30 AM

>In 1976 my dad convinced me to abandon my career
>goals and 'get a real job' because what I wanted to
>do was fun, not work.

>What I wanted to do was learn computer programming;
>it seemed like it had a future, and that I'd like
>that future.

Just as a counterpoint, in 1988, MY father convinced me to abandon MY career goals and 'get a real job' because what I wanted to do was fun, not work.

What I wanted to do was learn computer programming; it seemed like it had a future, and that I'd like that future.

I chose WRONG.

I spent nearly fifteen years as a helicopter pilot, an absolutely honorable and worthwhile job which I absolutely hated (but was locked into). I spent nights and weekends teaching myself programming and watching the personal computer and network revolution happen without me and trying to contribute what I could from the sidelines, and getting a masters' degree part-time. Finally, my commitment complete, I've dived back into science and computing--and I'm happier and (more importantly to this thread) PERFORMING better because I'm doing what I love.

I will submit that enjoying what you do (even more than enjoying being at your workplace) is fundamental to sustained long-term performance.

Posted by VPutz at November 7, 2007 8:34 AM buy female viagra canada

Darci, you bring up two excellent points:

1) 'Appropriate' is critical. As with anything, if you get out of line, you force others to compensate. I remind my kids that, one way or the other, you're going to receive discipline. Self-discipline avoids external discipline. (And 'discipline', as I've also explained to all my kids, is training, not punishment.)
2) Don't assume people think like you do. 'Casual' does indeed mean different things in different venues, and different things to different people.

There is a HUGE difference between 'making rules' and 'setting expectations.' When describing the office dress code (see, having a dress code doesn't remove fun, it just helps set expectations of what's appropriate) just let folks know what you expect: will they be able to safely do their job in whatever they're wearing? Will their co-workers, clients, visitors be comfortable, and perceive them as appropriately professional?

Presenting a good list of questions helps people make good choices themselves, reducing the need to make their choices for them. It also opens the door for review if someone doesn't get the point.

Creating a workplace people can have fun in while actually getting the job done is a lot of work. It's less work than being miserable, though ;)

Posted by Joel D Canfield at November 7, 2007 12:40 PM

1. Google is the model to me that comes to mind for career fun - am engaged with them in real estate transactions & fun is certainly part of all things Google. :>]

2. Financial independence - once you have that then you have more career fun - because you can bail on adverse career situations & move to the next cool thing. Protect fun with plenty of insurance. :>]

Posted by John at November 7, 2007 2:29 PM

This is mad?

I remember a conversation with Tom on this blog a while ago....

Simply, I would say, think, believe and do the same things if I were in a suit or if I were naked (apart from some embarrasment all round!)

I am working with a suit soon, but I would be happy to not have to match their need for a suit! I probably won't and yes its training at a global IT player!!!!

Have fun...

Patrick

Posted by Patrick Stapleton at November 7, 2007 4:34 PM

‘Fun is not the enemy, right Trevor? I can't believe your boss told you you laugh too much. How absurd! Shame on you for being so much fun to be around! Just stop it! There's no place for that in business!’

Thanks for that feedback Darci, you sound like my ex-boss except that he was serious. I did see him smile one day a few years ago ..... I think it was a Tuesday :-)

Since I left the corporate world three years ago and now work for myself I laugh a lot more … and often AT people like my old boss! I maintain having fun improves efficiency, professionalism and it also lengthens lives! Maybe you should start a new political party Darci - We already have one in England called ‘The Monster Raving Looney Party' – I have to confess my ex- boss, unsurprisingly, is not a paid up member.

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HAVE A FUN DAY ALL AND DO SOMETHING SILLY!!

Posted by Trevor Gay at November 8, 2007 9:28 AM

i once worked for an organization that managed fun - "come join the fun on wednesday from 3-4pm" - most people took this as a supreme insult to their intelligence and talent. as professionals or talent we are hired because of our passion and commitment which in my mind equates to fun. if an employer wanted me to have fun from 3-4 on wednesdays, what would i do with all i had left to give?

Posted by tom wilson at November 8, 2007 12:12 PM

Say yes to samba!!!Yes, fun should be in everything we do. As a administration student and attendant at a bank, i can assure that if i hadn´t fun at these places, i would be so bored and angry. Since i am from Brazil and here we enjoy samba very much, i want to be known as "samba wise" instead of " workaholic" or " hardworker"... these names make me sick... ; )

Posted by Fausto P. Faria at November 8, 2007 5:25 PM

Im so sick of this talk of suits and work place ideals...just give me a job that i enjoy and i will be good at it, no matter the task! Also helps to keep the number of supervisors low...

Posted by dick at November 11, 2007 4:34 AM

I you gotta laugh all the time at work to have fun, than the job itself - actually doing the job - probably sucks
unless you write comedy for a living -

Posted by frank at November 11, 2007 10:53 AM

Without a suit, no problem at all. But men wearing short trousers - no way can I take them seriously, whether they're Googlefolk or not.

Posted by Rob at November 16, 2007 5:42 AM