Are We Having Fun Yet?

Fun is an important trait of a highly effective and successful organization. Studies have shown a direct link between fun at work and an employee’s creativity, productivity, morale, satisfaction, and retention; as well as, customer service and many other factors that determine business success.

Every performance evaluation I have received commented on my ability to have fun while at work. I’m much more productive when I am having fun. The work flows. Perhaps being voted “Class Clown” among the girls in high school is the reason but I also received academic honors, won several of those beauty pageants and talent shows. I am unable to function at my absolute best if humor is excluded from my day to day living, especially while working.

I have read fun has become an integral part of corporate culture. It’s an organizational strategy—a strategic weapon to achieve extraordinary results in areas of corporate life ranging from training sessions to meetings to hiring practices. That’s fantastic!

As a consultant and trainer, my clients are encouraged to hire people who not only meet the job requirements but people who are fun. My sister, a recently retired school principal, told me of a candidate who was clearly intelligent and qualified for the position being applied for; but the candidate was “extremely boring and no fun at all.” She said to me, “I knew I would regret bringing this person on board because the candidate was too serious and did not know how to laugh and loosen up.”

C.W. Metcalf, a Humor Consultant and bestselling author said: “Humor is a vital, critical element for human survival and we often forget about it and set it aside. We are told that laughter, fun and play are un-adult, unintelligent and nonprofessional. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the first indicators of the onset of mental illness is a loss of the sense of joy of being alive.”

That’s it! When you’re having fun, you feel alive! If you want a work environment filled with high self-esteem, positive energy and team spirit, let your people have fun!