Jagler: Using humor, fun to energize a workplace
As the leader of a company, you inherently know that your workforce would be more productive and employee retention would be improved if your people are having fun at work.
But what if “having fun” is simply not in your DNA?
I asked corporate workshop presenters Dan Gramann and Vince Carone to compile a list of tactics a company can deploy to strategically inject some fun into the workplace. Gramann, a Milwaukee native, is co-founder of Chicago-based HFI Consulting Group. He has hired Carone to be vice president of a subsidiary, Brew Your Skill, which is contracted to facilitate fun and productive corporate meetings for other companies.
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Brew Your Skill’s taglines include, “Laugh, drink, learn,” and “Create culture with your team with the most unique training in the world by having interactive learning with comedic facilitators.”
Its shtick has attracted corporate clients across the nation, including several in Wisconsin.
Here is Brew Your Skill’s tactical list for injecting fun into the workplace:
KPI contest: Track your key performance indicators and hold a monthly raffle in which tickets are given out for reaching daily KPIs. The number of tickets given is based on the weight of the KPI. Then present a prize at the raffle.
Bi-weekly potluck: Half of the group picks the cuisine and the other half cooks it. The next time the roles are switched.
Basketball, bags, bingo or poker: Hold a weekly incentive and when the objective is reached, allow the team or individual to take part in the game. At the end of the month, pick a winner.
Embarrass the boss: The boss picks something embarrassing he or she will do if the team achieves a goal. “We had a manager do 15 push-ups for every sale our telesales team got one day. They ended up with 55 sales that day and set the record.”
Monday delay: Rather than having the team come in and talk to each other on Monday and share weekend stories individually, designate the first 30 minutes every Monday to do this in an organized structure. Talk, have some laughs, hear the stories. "In the long run, the designated 30 minutes ended up saving us much more time."
Top three moments: Start every meeting with your top three moments, whether they are funny or just recognitions of the team. Go further than surface level; describe the event and show the team you care.
Hidden gem: Pick a few tasks — selling accounts, entering in X amount of data — and designate them as “gems.” Don’t tell the team what they are each month, beyond possibly a clue. Let them stumble across these hidden gems just by doing their work. Then when they do, make a big deal out of it and reward them.
Spontaneous breakout: When an issue arises or numbers aren’t going well, hold a spontaneous breakout session. Get the team out of their element for 30 minutes and let them work through the issue. It will take them out of the struggling environment, encourage teamwork and possibly lead to a solution.
Quarterly party: Hold an event once a quarter. Tie it to metrics if needed.
Team/company incentive: Have team members vote on what they’d like to do as an event and design an incentive around it.
Secret Santa: For the holidays, or even Christmas in July, hold a "secret Santa" with the team. Make sure the team fills out wish lists.
Birthday surprise: Everyone donates $5 for the birthday of someone else on the team; the boss matches the total. Get the employee a nice present.
Take an employee to lunch: Once a week (or month), take an employee out to lunch with no incentive attached to it. Just get to know each other.
Homecoming week: Create your own high school “homecoming week.” Do clash day, pajama day, '80s day, etc.
Monthly newsletter: Interview an employee and hang the newsletter all over the office so people get to know one another.
Steve Jagler is the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.