Play Sparks Creativity and Boosts the Bottom Line
As summertime winds down, let's not let the attitude of fun disappear as well. An atmosphere that's too calm can make even the hardest worker feel a bit lazy. Sometimes overcoming inertia and tapping into creativity seems like too much work.
Companies like ZogSports, the nation’s largest social sports community and corporate culture solutions provider, are discovering, however, that personal connections, caring communities and a sense of play make work more fun. And fun, it turns out, can be productive.
According to the National Institute of Play, increased productivity, closer engagement and keener morale happen when people experience play at work. But how can employers and consultants build a sense of play into the workplace? ZogSports’ General Manager Samantha Roblin has some ideas to spark creativity:
1. Incorporate play into your daily work. Even the dullest meeting is livelier when you begin with a playful question or include activities such as trivia, snacks and icebreakers.
2. Bring games to the office. Foosball and table tennis lure people from their desks, encouraging communication across teams.
3. Perks don’t create the corporate culture. Creating a distinctive company culture requires managers to encourage team members to connect, collaborate and have fun together.
4. Provide healthy competition. Setting individual or team goals can be a wonderful way to build camaraderie.
5. Get up and get moving. Taking walking meetings or using standing desks encourages people to think differently and interact in innovative ways.
6. Consider hosting a company event. Having a new experience together builds new bonds between colleagues. You can host parties year-round if you think creatively. Picnics and field days are as much fun as fancy holiday shindigs – and a lot cheaper, too.
To lure the all-important millennial workforce, high tech companies are building on-site pools. They encourage naps and offer gyms and yoga classes during the workday. Once considered lavish perks, amenities like these have become the norm.
“Millennials make up around 45 percent of the workforce and they’d rather spend their money doing something cool and having an experience than buying or having material things, says Jai Al-Attas, founder of Loqules, a curated marketplace of tastemaker experiences for forward-thinking companies. “They’re a lot more socially aware, and they want to be part of companies or groups that give back to the community in some way.”
Indeed, employee culture is improved when company strategies are transparent and employees feel engaged. If the company’s organizational design increases productivity by making people more comfortable, then it follows that everything from architecture to interior design must support positive energy and encourage both workflow and creativity.
Companies like ZogSports, the nation’s largest social sports community and corporate culture solutions provider, are discovering, however, that personal connections, caring communities and a sense of play make work more fun. And fun, it turns out, can be productive.
According to the National Institute of Play, increased productivity, closer engagement and keener morale happen when people experience play at work. But how can employers and consultants build a sense of play into the workplace? ZogSports’ General Manager Samantha Roblin has some ideas to spark creativity:
1. Incorporate play into your daily work. Even the dullest meeting is livelier when you begin with a playful question or include activities such as trivia, snacks and icebreakers.
2. Bring games to the office. Foosball and table tennis lure people from their desks, encouraging communication across teams.
3. Perks don’t create the corporate culture. Creating a distinctive company culture requires managers to encourage team members to connect, collaborate and have fun together.
4. Provide healthy competition. Setting individual or team goals can be a wonderful way to build camaraderie.
5. Get up and get moving. Taking walking meetings or using standing desks encourages people to think differently and interact in innovative ways.
6. Consider hosting a company event. Having a new experience together builds new bonds between colleagues. You can host parties year-round if you think creatively. Picnics and field days are as much fun as fancy holiday shindigs – and a lot cheaper, too.
To lure the all-important millennial workforce, high tech companies are building on-site pools. They encourage naps and offer gyms and yoga classes during the workday. Once considered lavish perks, amenities like these have become the norm.
“Millennials make up around 45 percent of the workforce and they’d rather spend their money doing something cool and having an experience than buying or having material things, says Jai Al-Attas, founder of Loqules, a curated marketplace of tastemaker experiences for forward-thinking companies. “They’re a lot more socially aware, and they want to be part of companies or groups that give back to the community in some way.”
Indeed, employee culture is improved when company strategies are transparent and employees feel engaged. If the company’s organizational design increases productivity by making people more comfortable, then it follows that everything from architecture to interior design must support positive energy and encourage both workflow and creativity.
