Having fun at work, what does that look like?
To me, “having fun” has a lot of different meanings. I think it’s often misused at work, and it gets tied into culture. For me, “fun” is solving interesting problems with smart and talented people. I love that, that’s fun.
I just came out of a phone conversation where we were talking about it being the fourth quarter. It’s budget and health insurance season, and we’re trying to finish the year strong while getting a good start to the new year. There’s a lot going on, and there’s a lot to do, including problem-solving, forecasting, shaping, molding, etc. It takes a lot of brain power, discussion, debate and sometimes healthy conflict. To me, that is fun! It’s engaging and what I love to do.
On my 30-minute call, I had a great partner on the other line, and we were sharing ideas, debating and strategizing. It was fun, and it got me fired up. I’ve loved doing this throughout my career.
There’s other fun, like happy hours and dinners. I recently was out to dinner with one of my leadership teams, and we had a lot of fun. We had appetizers, a drink and a nice dinner. We talked about work and our personal lives. We laughed, and it was a lot of fun. At Service Express, we have potlucks, parties and happy hours, and I’m for all of that. That’s part of the fun as well.
What I’ve always said is that if dinner and happy hours are the only fun you’re having, then you’re just goofing around. As you’re growing and scaling a company, you need fun business challenges. Without results and without tackling anything, you won’t accomplish anything. That’s not employee engagement; they won’t want to stay for that.
Have fun solving interesting business challenges; laugh hard, get together, connect and celebrate. When you get all that working right, you’ll see a lot of results and opportunities. Let me know how you have fun at work!
