A highly productive workforce is the strongest asset for any organization. Their motivation, energy, and state of mind are the most important factors that give direction to the company they are working with. Happy employees are more likely to give their best efforts, without pushing themselves too far and stressing out.
If one of your concerns has been how to make your employees perform at the top of their maximum potential, you should consider engaging them with fun and enjoyment. Workplace woes are the biggest drainers of energy and enthusiasm, leaving your employees stressed and anxious. This is the moment when you need to incorporate recreational activities in order to get the best out of your employees.
According to a study by BrightHR, employees who have fun at work are less likely to take sick days and more likely to report feeling creative at work. In other words, creating an atmosphere of fun and warmth, employees tend to be more committed to their organizations, which increases their productivity and output. For example, Google currently tops the list of companies where most talented people want to work because it provides an ideal environment and innovative ways for employee engagement and happiness.
The following tips will help you boost your employees’ productivity while they are having fun in the workplace:
Incorporate recreational activities as per the hobbies of your employees
Get ready to roll the dice of fun activities but before that, it’s important to know the hobbies of your staff. Enforcing your own fun ideas could be counter-productive because recreational activities yield better results when applied as per individual interests and hobbies. For example, employees who like outdoor adventures won’t show their interest in chess, whereas people who love playing ping-pong may not like dancing. To know the hobbies of your staff, you need to create questionnaire like: how do you like to spend your free time? What’s your favorite sport? Etc. Now, after knowing about who likes what, start working on relevant recreational activities that you can think of. Some of these activities include poker nights, karaoke, and regular adventure trips (like cycling, trekking, hiking etc).
Go out together
Another cool way to have fun together with your whole team is going for regular days and/or nights out. It helps develop deeper relationships outside of work that could inspire collaboration back in the office. Going outside with your team helps them develop self-confidence, which is very crucial for being productive. Along with having loads of fun and enjoyment, get-togethers like these encourage team-building exercises. The idea, therefore, is socializing with them from human to human perspective will help you communicate with them better, trust each other more and work together better. Getting to know your colleagues, as well as employees, is the key to forming a collaborative culture.
Celebrate small achievements
Foundations of bigger achievements lie how you value smaller achievements. This is essentially what growth is. As a matter of fact, personal efforts count when the achievement contributes to the team’s common goals. Celebrating these little success stories helps make way for attaining larger and long-term goals. It is very important to recognize and appreciate genuine efforts being put by your employees. You can throw occasional office parties if a team’s monthly targets are met. Invite your employees to have a toast with personalized wine labels on exotic wine bottles. Besides, celebrating success stories will be a great source of inspiration for others to excel. It will strengthen the skills of your team members as they become more and more familiar with one another.
Work hard and play harder
As a general societal perception of professional life, we should grow up and work hard. The truth is both work and play can mutually co-exist. When employees have fun and collaborate, they feel like they are on the same page, which in return makes them more productive. Introducing the concept of working hard and playing harder keeps your employees motivated to do their best. To allow them to play harder, incorporate games each month, such as a virtual murder mystery that involves team bonding and problem-solving.
Encourage participation
Fun at the workplace cannot be experienced without the active participation of your employees. Some employees tend to be so passive; it even affects their energy levels, which can possibly affect their productivity. You need to encourage every member of your staff to participate in recreational activities. Ensure you try them out, and you’ll definitely reap the untold benefits that will naturally follow.
