Fun in the workspace: how to create an enjoyable work environment
Who’s guilty of moaning about having to go to the office? Many of us have been conditioned to believe that workplaces are cold, lifeless spaces, after having grown up seeing isolated cubicles for depressed workers in movies. But yet, these are places where we spend the majority of our waking hours, so why aren’t workplaces more inviting - dare we say it? - fun spaces?
Let’s start by interrogating the why: why should we make workspaces fun? Simple! It’s been scientifically proven that happier employees are healthier, meaning fewer sick days taken and better focus in the office. Fun environments also stimulate an individual’s creativity and can thus boost productivity. Additionally, employees who have fun are more likely to be relaxed, and therefore their communication improves and their desire to collaborate with colleagues at a deeper level increases.
However, simply saying “let’s make this workspace fun”, doesn’t make it truly fun: look at all the startup offices where there’s a table football table and enforced pizza Fridays accompanied by dozens of near-burnt out employees. In order to foster a genuinely fun environment, it is key that a sense of safety, freedom and trust exist, and are centred at the core of the company. Management must work hard to ensure that processes are employee-centric, autonomy trumps micro-management, and mistakes are used as learning opportunities.
Once these values are baked into the company in a structural way, they can be translated into the workplace. There are three key ways in which this should be done:
Layout: Fun is better together, and as previously outlined, fun leads to collaboration. Therefore it’s essential to design working spaces with open spaces where employees can come together in a spontaneous way, with the hopes they bounce ideas back and forth, developing projects that will drive the organisation forwards. Additionally, there need to be little oases of calm and quiet for focused work. To this end, it’s key to ensure working spaces are fluid and dynamic places.
Lighting: Natural light helps provide our brains with the chemicals to stay alert, energised and connected, all key for fun! Ensure there are lots of windows throughout the space.
Air: Good laughs need good air! Ensure the space is well ventilated with clean air; this air fills our blood with oxygen, allowing us to focus. There’s nothing worse than stuffy, smelly air to kill a good vibe!
For more tips, reach out to Space Your Place’s founder, Marisa, for a consultation on how to make your workplace a more fun environment, with the goal of keeping your employees happy, healthy and productive.