Wellness and Fun in the Workplace

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I am getting ready to give a talk on Fun in the Workplace at Santa Clara University and have been asked to do so in the context of workplace wellness. So I did a little research on wellness and found a Harvard Business Review article "What's the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs?" (http://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs/ar/1) It turns out that the returns are considerable in reducing health costs and retaining employees, to name but two. I encourage you to read the entire article as it really helps makes the case to upper management about what's in it for them.

This article also mentions FUN as part of an organization's wellness program which leads me to another article I found, this from the Mayo Clinic and titled "Stress Relief from Laughter? Yes, no joke." (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-relief/SR00034) The article provides a nice snapshot of some short-term and long-term physiological and psychological benefits of laughter (which I am lumping in with fun and play and humor). 

Finally, there was an article in today's (2/14/12) The New York Times on the Op-Ed page titled "Making Good Citizenship Fun" and ending with this quote: "The moral here is simple. If governments (ed: or any organization) want to encourage good citizenship (ed: or whatever your specific goal is) they should try making the desired behavior more fun. In other words, and in Mary Poppins speak, "A spoonful of sugar helps (or might help) the medicine go down!"

I don't assert that fun (play, humor, etc.) is the only strategy to use, but these articles remind us that it can be an important strategy when used wisely.

And please remember that the best fun is organic, spontaneous fun as opposed to manufactured and forced fun. Infact, manufactured fun is an oxymoron and to be avoided unless you are playing a game of collecting oxymorons!

Comments as always are appreciated.