Fun at work – take it seriously
Vasi is here. Distracted-by-YouTube Vasi.
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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 17 seconds.
What’s the issue about?
This dose will be about Fun at work. What does it bring you? Why is it important for strong teams? And how can you check if your team has fun at work?
If you find it difficult to combine “fun” + “work” in 1 sentence… I think you will benefit from this “WTF” dose.
… I mean “Wow That’s Fun” dose… 😉
“Ha, Ha. You’re so funny, Vasi”
Nah… this is a stolen joke from the video “The Skill of Humor” by Andrew Tarvin – he left his corporate job as an IT project manager at Procter & Gamble to teach people about the value of humor as the world’s first Humor Engineer.
Make jokes outside of work, please!
These are the words of a team leader with whose team our gang held a team coaching session.
A sense of humor is one of the most overlooked skills at work.
But in fact, humor (if it’s not offensive and inappropriate) reduces stress, makes you happier, and more productive, and easier to deal with the serious and responsible things in this overwhelming and dynamic world.
THE ULTIMATE FORMULA I found and tested during my super-duper deep and professional experience:
(sorry for the caps lock but I’m really impressed with myself *fake coughs*)
The more seriously you take one thing, the harder it becomes for you to live with it.
(I bolded it because this is the most valuable thing in the whole dose… obviously)
In addition, through humor you get closer to other people, bond more easily, helps you communicate your messages and be understood, breaks down barriers, dispels bad energy and conflicts.
Why is humor important for strong teams?
A great atmosphere is like glue for your team. To have such an atmosphere, three aspects need to be present:
- Everyone feels part of the team
- The team environment is safe
- The team atmosphere is full of joy & fun
The teams we have surveyed say they manage to achieve a safe environment and that their people feel part of the team.
But what proves to be more difficult for most of them is having an atmosphere filled with fun and people enjoying themselves at work.
From my gang’s work with 300+ dev teams, we’ve seen that having fun while working is a necessity and a must for strong teams.
This is the report that Hari from our gang synthesized with data from the first dev teams whose dynamics we analyzed in depth through our new product TReE Team Scan.
Only 49% of dev people have joy & fun at work.
How can you check if your team has joy & fun at work?
TReE Team Scan assesses whether your team’s atmosphere is good and have joy & fun at work.
In the survey part of the tool we ask 3 questions about this:
Let’s Wrap Up:
You have to take humor seriously. Without fear of not being taken seriously.
Because humor is the secret to building trust, a good atmosphere, and creating strong teams.
… still, it’s good not to take it too seriously… right?
If you want to explore more on the subject:
“Where Did All The Fun Go?” – the topic that Bogomil Shopov – Bogo (Technical Program Manager) presented at the HalfStack Conference.
The TED Video “Why great leaders take humor seriously”.
Stay Healthy, my dear Pill-er!
– Vasi
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