10 ways to have fun at work

While it is quite impossible to like everyone and constantly avoid conflicts, there are also various things that people can do to make their work more fun.

Do you enjoy your work? Are you happy when working? Do you have great colleagues who you want to engage and spend time with? No? Well, it’s not always so luxurious elsewhere either. Workplaces can sometimes be either boring and uninspiring or full of conflicts between individuals and teams. Very often there is in practice no-one to blame for the situation. Instead, problems have always been there or the company has steadily slipped towards boredom and conflicts in the course of time.

While it is quite impossible to like everyone and constantly avoid conflicts, there are also various things that people can do to make their work more fun. After all, we´re all humans and happiness can be influenced by the quality and quantity of the interactions between us all. So why leave it to the others if you can be the person who can spark happiness?

For the sake of inspiration, we have gathered ten tips on how employees can create more enjoyable workplaces for themselves:

1. Make sure work has a bigger meaning - People should not look for a meaningful work, instead they should make their work meaningful. That basically means that each and every employee should think of why their job exists and towards what significant goal they are moving while working. Clarifying the goal is crucial to enjoyable work: there is no need to continuously ponder whether the work is worth starting or not – the answer is always self-evident.

2. Strive towards making tangible progress - Getting to a ´flow´ state at work is great! You feel that you are getting things done. You see small victories or steps forward here and there. You also see your colleagues taking steps and progressing. People who can make progress, track progress and demonstrate progress, feel happier while working for their bigger goals.

3. Engage with others every day - People should start walking around the office, talk to people (including those that they’ve never worked with) and ask how their colleagues are doing. How was their weekend? What are their career plans? What are they working on? Small sporadic discussions may be important in helping people judge whether they like their working environments or not.

4. Remember to give positive feedback whenever possible - You don´t have to be a manager to tell your colleagues that they have done a great job. But if you are, then giving positive feedback is part of your job and you should take it seriously. Inspirational leaders typically give more positive feedback to their teams and peers than the un-inspirational ones. Try it yourself and you´ll see the impact.

5. Appreciate each other at work - Easier said than done, but appreciation of others is one of the easiest ways to create happiness. Hearing the comments of other people and giving value to various opinions are both part of it. There should be no excuse to dismiss other people. All employees should enjoy the opportunity to say what they think and be heard as valued individuals.

6. Give gifts without any reason - Positive surprises entail great power since by definition they are both positive and surprising. Receiving something without knowing it beforehand, let alone earning it somehow, can bring plenty of joy. And, what is best, these gifts can bring joy equally to the giver and the receiver.

7. Decorate the workspace - People should pay attention to how their working environment looks like. There should be silent space for those who need it. There should be plants for those who need fresh air to perform. Further, bright colours can bring happiness to some of us. Companies should also consider holding meetings outside the office every now and then, just to get fresh thoughts and small changes in the attitude of the people.

8. Spend time together outside the working hours - Try to find time to go for dinner or after work drinks with colleagues, if possible. Organize parties and celebrations when needed, e.g. to start a new season or to end a major project at work. The costs of dinner and after work drinks are typically low but their impact on happiness at work is often high.

9. Joke with each other - People should have an open mind towards humour. They should find practical funny things in their everyday life that they would like to share with others, in the form of jokes. But, as a word of warning, humour is a difficult sport. Not all jokes work equally to all people. Cultural and social sensitivities need to be considered too.  

10. Create company teams, bands and clubs - This is in relation to the earlier point on spending time together outside the working hours. For instance, sports teams, company rock bands and dancing clubs can do the trick. In addition to “only” spending time together, these things can bring a totally new angle to it: a joint target (e.g. a match or a concert) that is worth aiming for.  

Didn´t  find what you would like to use? Not able to influence or make decisions about these things? Don´t worry. This is just a short list of things for your inspiration, but you can also create your own ways of letting other people know that you like them and you like working with them. In addition, you can also raise the issue in company meetings, gather other people who think the same, and start something fun without management approval. If it works, the management will approve it later anyway.

And, if nothing else works and no-one follows your path, just smile! It doesn´t hurt; and it’s difficult for other people to be angry at a smiling person!

Fuzu is a Finnish-Kenyan company that develops career guidance, online learning and recruitment services for the emerging markets. We help people take the next step in life, get inspiration and unleash their hidden potential. We are on a mission to make African workplaces fun and more enjoyable. Click here to see how your company could benefit from Fuzu recruitment and learning solutions!