How leaders can create a fun workplace for everyone

Should people be having fun at work? Well, think about it this way: Would you be more productive in an office where people celebrate holidays, run book clubs, and go running together on their lunch break? Or a bland office where no one really has any fun together?

Making the workplace more fun doesn’t mean you just let people run wild and do whatever they want. You can actually put things in place that bring employees closer together, make them more productive, and improve their well-being.

Here’s how.
 

What is a fun workplace?

Business leaders may balk at the idea of making their office a fun place, imagining employees slacking off, playing games in the breakroom, and not doing much of the work they’re paid to do. But a fun workplace isn’t one where nothing gets done; it’s an environment people look forward to being in every day, especially if they’re working there in person most of—if not the whole—week. According to a survey, most employees describe a fun workplace as:

• Having colleagues they enjoy spending time with.

• Doing interesting, fulfilling work.

• Being in an environment that’s fun and relaxed.

• Engaging in non-work activities, like games and events, provided by the company.

All of this is to say that a fun workplace isn’t a place for goofing off and skipping out on work. But it does mean doing a balancing act between empowering people to do fulfilling work and giving them a place where they can blow off some steam with coworkers.

So why do it at all if it’s so challenging?

Why having a fun place to work makes a huge difference

For business leaders, any significant change to a workplace has to come with benefits, especially if there’s a sizeable investment involved. After all, it takes more than a few ping-pong tables to create a workplace that’s fun and engaging in a lasting way. What are you getting out of investing in making your workplace more fun? A lot, it turns out.

Psychological well-being

You don’t have to be completely burnt out to feel psychologically unwell. Grinding it out at a workplace where you don’t feel like what you do matters or you never have a chance to chat with a coworker about something unrelated to your current workplace can take its toll.

When you create a fun workplace for your employees, you’re committing to your responsibility to foster well-being at work, which goes far beyond just helping them manage their workload.

Better employee engagement

Your most engaged employees are usually your top performers. They’re motivated to excel because they believe in your vision, they’re mentally healthy, and they’re empowered to do their best work. A fun workplace can boost engagement by reinforcing your values, bringing people closer together, and giving them a place to relax and be themselves.

More advocacy (and referrals)

A robust employee referral program can save you $3,000 per hire and fill vacancies in half the time as other methods. But for a referral program to work, you don’t just need employees who are satisfied at work. They need to be advocates, telling everyone in their network that your company is the best place to work. A fun workplace is a strong step in that direction.

More creativity

Organizations can solve problems in one of two ways. They can apply tried-and-true solutions popular in their industry or go out of their way to come up with a more creative path. While the former is more reliable, creativity can unlock opportunities for explosive growth. Employees who have more fun at work feel like their creativity is being nurtured, and they’re more likely to tap into it to come up with those impactful solutions.

8 ideas for creating a fun workplace

Convinced you want a more fun workplace but you're not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas to get you there.

Have a headshot day

Having a consistent style for all of your employee’s headshots isn’t just a great move for your brand, it can also be a way to inject some fun into the office. After everyone’s had their official headshot taken, encourage them to take silly pictures, or even just to take pictures holding an item that shows off their personality.

This can become a tradition, where you take headshots whenever a new batch of employees comes in.

Encourage employees to share their hobbies

You can encourage employees to bring more of themselves to work to make the workplace more fun. That might mean having a “show and tell” day, where people talk about hobbies or activities they participate in outside of work. You could even help them set up themed activities where they teach their coworkers the basics of their hobby.

Start a fantasy sports league

An office fantasy sports league can really bring the sports fans in your workplace together. You often won’t need to do much more than introduce the idea and spend a bit of budget on a prize to get them to participate. This is a simple way to bring more fun to the office—and create some healthy competition—for many of your employees.

Start a real sports team

For sports fans who prefer to play rather than just watch, you can form a team that participates in local charity matches or intramural leagues. This allows employees to meet up outside of work to partake in a shared interest, building stronger ties and making the workplace more fun.

Notice and encourage traditions

No one likes a forced tradition. But if you notice any that start to develop organically—like welcoming new employees with a trip to the café or having fun Friday meetings —try to encourage them. This will make employees feel like you’re helping them have more fun in the office while building a stronger company culture, all without making it mandatory.

Celebrate holidays and special events

What's another easy way to make the office more fun? Host events for common holidays. Christmas parties are already pretty common, but is there a way you can help people celebrate Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving? Small gestures can mean a lot, and they’re often enough to bring people together.

Start a book club

An easy, low-pressure social gathering with broad appeal, an office book club can encourage people to meet up regularly and give them a common topic to talk about when they bump into each other.

Organize volunteer days

Fulfilling work is a big part of making the workplace more fun, but whether employees find their actual job fulfilling or not isn’t always up to you. A good way to get around this? Organize volunteering days where you bring coworkers together to volunteer for a cause. You can even give them paid time off to do this.

4 tips for making your workplace more fun

Putting effort and resources into helping your employees have more fun at work is great, but you need to tailor how you do it so you’re using those resources efficiently. Here are some tips for doing that.

Ask employees what they want

Making the workplace more fun can’t be a fully top-down strategy. You need to know what matters to your employees—how they define a “fun workplace”—for any investments you make to have a lasting impact. You can do that with regular surveys, both before and after you release a new initiative.

Avoid mandatory events

When you put a lot of time, effort, and money into preparing fun events for your employees, it’s tempting to make them mandatory. After all, how can you get the engagement and cohesion you’re looking for if everyone doesn’t show up?

When you make an event mandatory, you’re creating inherent friction between the employee and the event, making it less enjoyable. So avoid this as much as you can.

Make it a long-term commitment

If you want to make your workplace more fun, just know it won’t happen overnight. This is something you build slowly over time, based on continuous feedback from your team. There are no quick fixes, only incremental improvements.

Don’t be afraid to pivot

When you make a big investment in something meant to make the workplace fun, it can be disappointing to find out it’s not having the impact you expected. But if you know something isn’t working, pouring more resources into it won’t achieve anything but pushing your budget to the breaking point. When an initiative isn’t working, accept it and pivot away from it to a new plan.

Keep things fun

A fun workplace can make employees feel more engaged with their work, improve their well-being, and even bring about more creative projects. But it takes dedicated effort from leadership, a willingness to listen, and an ability to pivot when needed. Just try one of the ideas in our list and see how it changes things at your workplace!