#Fridayfun

Working at a family business means that nothing from your childhood is out of bounds. So there it was in all its glory... My senior picture. 

Believe it or not I used to have hair.  Really.  My two boys don't believe me either, but I did.  Not only did I have hair, but I thought it was cool to dye my hair blond.  No wonder I am bald, and proud!  Just think, I haven't had a bad hair day since 1999... 

The reason my senior picture was on my desk was it was part of my sister, Charlotte's, campaign for "#fridayfun."  She continually challenges me to bring fun into the workplace, which is a foreign concept for me.  It is not that I am opposed to fun, it is just that I prioritize results and hard work over fun.  Office fun for me is that we are kicking some butt!  Charlotte has challenged me, however, to think differently about office place fun.  It does not have to be opposed to work, in fact, it can help round out the work experience. 

It seems to me that things are different than they used to be in the workplace.  As I have discussed in previous posts, email is 24/7 and it sometimes necessitates that we give some of our attention to it during off hours.  By the way, what are "off hours" anymore?  This does not mean that we all need foosball tables—yet--but I have come to realize that as a leader I need to promote fun in the office place to counterbalance the nonstop work and pressure.  We simply need to "turn it off" for a few minutes every once in a while.  Not only am I not immune from this reality, but I also need to demonstrate it so that others see it is okay to do.   

I feel like my dad is staring at me giving me "the look" so here is where I need to make a case for fun's benefits! 

I have discovered that creating fun at work has several productive benefits.  (Notice how I had to become a believer.  I still have work to do!)  First off, fun creates relational connection with those partaking in it.  Charlotte schemed with one of our sales team members, Tammy, with regards to the senior picture.  They had a blast annoying me.  "I love your sister," was Tammy's closing statement to me. Talk about a win. 

Another aspect of fun is that it helps us reset our stress level, as I already mentioned above.  I experienced this recently when a buddy sent me the perfect hilarious text message one afternoon during an intensely stressful time at work. The message gave me one of those belly laughs that I experience far too infrequently anymore.  If laughing was a crime, I deserved to be fired.  Instead, the laughter provided me with a release from the stress that I felt throughout the day.  Afterward I was ready to engage in the stresses that still existed, and I was better for it.  I was also in a better mood, to the delight of those around me.    

This is just the start of my experience with #fridayfun and other fun activities at work. This race is a marathon and not a sprint, so we hear all the time.  As a leader, I want to make sure that the run is fun.  Of course we have to kick a little butt too, but these two things are no longer opposed to one another in my mind. What about you?