Last week my friend Debra Swan, an outstanding wellness coach here in Chicago, presented her wellness wheel to my NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) meeting. You might have experienced a wheel like this where all of the different areas of our life (like health, career, finances, family, friends, intimacy, etc.) are wedges of a pie. We were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how we were doing in each category. The result is to have a visual representation of the areas in our life that are flourishing and areas that need attention. You want a round wheel, but many of us end up with a lopsided mess.
So here is the big result that I could have already told you: In every one of my breakout groups people rated Fun as an area needing a lot more attention. Duh.
When you consider our times, it’s not such a big surprise that people want more fun in their lives. Many of us are trapped at home without the opportunities and people that used to bring fun into our lives. We long for the day we would grab a coffee with a friend, go to a party to enjoy people, drinks and nibbles, journey out to the movies with the gang, laugh in the midst of a good conversation at the water cooler.
Each participant reflected that they wanted more fun – to have more joy, more laughter, and more positive feelings. Fun creates happiness, higher levels of well being, which supports good physical and mental health.
Now my revelation (drum roll please): This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses to step up and bring more fun into the office!
You don’t have to go all out and put ping pong tables and draft beer in the break room, although that would be cool. You can very simply bring in non-work activities, games, have more in-person and/or virtual gatherings. Host fun celebrations for wins, birthdays, anniversaries….
If people are looking for more fun in their lives, how great would that be if they found some fun at work? This is an opportunity to make your environment a great place to work – where fun is part of the culture.
Fun supports communication, collaboration, and innovation. Fun allows people to bond and connect which is essential for trust and accountability. Having fun increases productivity, creativity, engagement, and reduces stress…… and it is what people are craving these days.
As Dale Carnegie said “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing” .
If you need some ideas about how to bring fun into your team, contact me at marcy@engagingplay.com or here at engagingplay.com. Be the place where that fun happens!
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