Hello friends. I had written 4 articles (EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION, PERSONAL BRANDING, RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT, HANDLING SUCCESS) on how to be a better you by improving your technical and interpersonal skills. This time I want to touch less serious aspect yet I believe is also important to boost your personal productivity. I want to write on having fun at workplace. I have experienced it myself. From my several professional working experience, the ones which I could have fun were the ones I usually stayed longer, learned a lot, and excelled at professional achievements.
I think we all agree that multiple personalities and chemistry from one another in workplace is one thing to consider. However, we as an individual have the ability to initiate things to create a fun and enjoyable work atmosphere. It is about to build a social support system for you inside the workplace itself. I will share some things you can do.
The intention is to figure out something in common with your colleague, be it hobby or interest in things that are not related to work things. In this way, you will not see your colleague as only a work friend but personal friends you can share and talk about other things. You can also ask them to join a hobby club or do activities together outside workplace.
Do not think too much how to do this. Even simple things like a change of scenery can make a difference. Let’s say you always have weekly team meeting every Monday morning. You can propose to do the meeting outside the office, in a coffee shop maybe or change the time once a while, maybe from usual 8am to 2pm after lunch (when drowsiness usually strikes after lunch time). This way I am sure the effectiveness will improve and new ideas will flow out.
Big organization usually have in-house Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Some examples: visiting and teaching activities to rural schools, collecting trashes, etc. These activities are usually being held on weekend. This is a great opportunity to connect to other colleagues you do not usually talk to due to different nature of your functions. It is also a good way to expand your networking within the organization you work. Nobody knows whether you will need their help someday.
Stay productive and don’t forget to have fun!
