Well, it’s almost the end of January and I do want to get something posted before the month’s out. Let’s see if I make it in some time zone, at least.
Our work recently had an employee satisfaction survey taken, the results of which are a treasure trove of ammunition for someone like me who believes we can do better at the things we’re already good at and that there’s low hanging fruit in the areas where we aren’t doing so well. One of the questions we scored low on went something like: My supervisor makes this a fun place to work. While I don’t want to make a big issue out of this particular question, I did find it ironic that some of our leaders didn’t really understand the question. To these people, work is work and fun is what you maybe get to do when you’re not working. They didn’t seem to understand the point of the question and even said so publicly. I guess that alone says something about why we scored so low here.
So, what does this question mean? Is work supposed to be fun, or is it supposed to be just “work”? First off, I don’t think the question is referring to how many parties or Friday nights at the pub, we have. The question is asking if the time you spend at work is enjoyable (and does your supervisor help make it so). It is aiming at the question of whether you get up for work every day and dread coming in the office, or if you sort of look forward for a new day at the office, doing something you enjoy doing.
My initial reaction to this question is, this is astronomy, it better be fun! A (only) slightly deeper response is we spend so much of our lives at work that if it is not fun, we should be doing something else. I’m sort of shocked that some of our managers don’t seem to get that. Fun at work to me doesn’t mean a laugh a minute or always joking with my colleagues. No, it means, to me personally, being involved in a team, furthering a goal I believe in, and contributing my best talents to help us get there, while working with others contributing their’s. That kind of environment makes work seem less like “work” and more like “fun”. I’m sure others have different visions of what would motivate them to want to come to work every day besides to collect a paycheck, although I bet the responses will be fairly similar to my own.
Does my supervisor make this a fun place to work? = Does my supervisor create an environment where I can use my talents to my greatest ability and contribute to a shared, desired goal?
The idea that work is work and fun is what you do after hours is not only outdated, but is guaranteed to get you an unmotivated workforce looking for the next passing party barge with an opening. Therefore, as managers, we have the responsibility to make sure our employees are getting something positive out of their work besides a paycheck. Work is more than sharing the pain, distributing the load equally, and getting the job done. To creating a growing, thriving, dynamic organization, we all need to create a place where people feel their talents are being used, their skills are being developed, and they are contributing to something worthwhile, bigger than themselves. At Gemini, we scored very highly in some of these areas, even some of the harder ones like sharing a common mission, working on something bigger than ourselves, yet feeling a part of it, but we missed out on the part about making all of it fun. We’re thus missing out on the part that will eventually take us places we don’t even dream of right now – the part that that will let people’s imaginations loose to find ways to work within our current constraints to reach heights previously thought out of reach.
We can’t forget about fun.
Scot loves astronomy and acknowledges its many benefits, both direct and indirect, to society, but realizes that in the end, it is just astronomy. If it weren’t fun, he wonders why he would be doing it.
When I went on a Carnival cruise last year the cruise director explained that the Carnival philosophy that a happy ship is an well-run ship, and so they try to make work fun for their employees. You can see this same philosophy at work when you fly on Southwest Airlines. Carnival and Southwest don’t try to make work fun for their employees because they are altruistic or hopelessly touchy-feely hippies. They are entirely motivated by profits. They know that people who are engaged in their work and find it rewarding (aka fun) do better work, and better work means better results, and better results mean more profit.
Oh, I understood this completely differently, and a lot more literally! So I probably had the same attitude as the managers you’re referring to – no, my manager doesn’t make my work “fun” and that’s a *good* thing. I don’t want my supervisor trying to make my workplace fun, I don’t want to work for David Brent, I’d much rather be left to get on with what I enjoy doing (and, as you say, given the tools to do it well). But I think that’s the trouble with these surveys: everyone interprets the questions so differently that they might as well be answering different ones.
I believe that it is all in the individual mindset of how one can have fun at work. It’s all a matter of choice. If you are enjoying what you are doing- having fun at work is easy. BUT if you hate what you are doing – then it would just be a chore to you.
…WE DECIDE what we want and how we want to do it.
I once read in a blog that ” Instead of looking at the negative aspect of things, we can choose to look at the positives. Instead of seeing problems, take them as challenges and opportunities. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we can try to look for constructive solutions. It’s all in the mind. It is harder to change the environment, but when come to change our mindset, we are in full control.” (taken from http://www.e2i.com.sg/e2i_says/e2i_blog/2011/6/10/work_is_fun/ )
I totally agree with this. We control our mindset and our destiny.
HI Cara,
I completely agree that no one is responsible for our feelings / happiness but ourselves. My point also, though, is that there are environments in which people more readily allow themselves to see problems as challenges, changes as opportunities, and etc. It is is this kind of environment that I think good managers strive to develop. Even in the absence of this, though, you are quite right, the well-adjust employees can thrive if they have the right mindset!
scot