CharityVillage® Research: "Play" shouldn't be a four-letter word

Resources & Library

Path: Main Street > Resources/Library > Research Articles > Feature Article

'Play' shouldn't be a four-letter word
By Sue Tersmette, MEd
July 5, 2004

Play in the workplace? Having fun in your voluntary organization? You've got to be kidding! After all, if employees and volunteers are playing, they certainly CAN'T be working. If there are organizations out there that still hold fast to this belief, then perhaps they could benefit by looking into recent thinking about the advantages of play and humour in the workplace.

The definition of fun is: "enjoyment, a good time". Play means "recreation, amusement", or, in the verb tense, "to amuse oneself", while humour means "the ability to amuse". These definitions can sound like drivel in the workplace. After all, who can reasonably expect that work should be fun or a form of amusement? Clowns, maybe, or those who work in the recreation industry, but certainly not "business" people, or people who have "serious" jobs working in charitable organizations, or hospitals, or even law firms (can't you just picture a lawyer walking into a courtroom with Mickey Mouse ears on his or her head?).

The good news is that there is research-based information available on the positive effects of humour in the workplace, so for those who think working at a "fun job" is an oxymoron there is now information to dispel that belief. Some of the findings are summarized as follows: Humour, play and fun in your voluntary organization can...

increase productivity and creativity
decrease stress and the amount of sick time taken by employees and volunteers
enhance and improve communication. They can be used to soften criticism and help defuse tense situations.
improve customer service and build community. Remember, employees and volunteers not only make up a community, but are an organization's customers too!
The best news? The effort to transform a workplace from one of drudgery, routine, and nose-to-the-grindstone thinking into a fun, creative, can't-wait-to-get-to-work kind of place, is minimal. While there are hundreds of websites about humour, dozens of Professional Humourists, newsletters and publications devoted to humour, research on humour, consultants on humour, books on humour (the list goes on and on), there are really only a few steps and rules needed to incorporate humour and fun into the workplace, thus creating an environment for your employees and volunteers that they can get excited about (in a positive way).

Adopt a belief system that humour is important in your organization. To promote humour with volunteers, the volunteer manager will need to be the catalyst to get things going in the right direction.

Recognize that there IS a time and a place for humour and fun. For example, it would not be a good thing if your volunteer organizing committee for the annual Gala event decided to have fun by dressing Western when the desired dress for the evening is designated "Formal". When committee reports are presented during an Annual General Board Meeting is not the time to get up and do the Chicken Dance. However, when your monthly group of volunteers are stuffing those ever-important envelopes and need a break in the routine, a brief round of "Hot Potato" with a Koosh Ball can bring a little enjoyment to a routine task. Or how about blowing a navy whistle to announce when a "volunteer is on deck" at your organization.

Ensure that humour is safe, free from prejudice, appropriate for the individual volunteer or volunteer group, and is not offensive. Volunteers who visit infants or children in hospitals cannot use balloons to have fun, due to safety concerns, but could dress up in a funny costume or hat. Jokes or one-liners can be a great way to lift spirits, but beware of off-colour jokes or those that stereotype a group of people. It really pays to get to know your volunteers before implementing certain types of "play" activity into their volunteer assignments. For example, you might have more luck encouraging a group of youth volunteers to dress backwards for a day than a group of elderly volunteers.

Humour should poke fun at situations, not people. For example, a long, tedious session of volunteer orientation could be made more fun with a quick game of "Duck-duck-goose", which would be a better alternative than making comments about how nice it would be to "get out of this meeting before next week, if only the volunteer manager would cut short her endless yammering!"

Incorporating humour and fun into your organization shouldn't require a huge output of time and effort. Use the KIS principle - Keep It Simple. Perhaps a different person could come up with a fun activity every month to engage the staff and volunteers. Put together a humour box, like a toy box, that holds various funny items to be pulled out in a pinch to add a little levity to the day. Develop a humour board to post funny cartoons, tasteful jokes, or goofy pictures of your volunteers at work. The possibilities are truly endless!
Making your organization a fun place to volunteer can reap huge rewards. Not only will your volunteers keep coming back for more, but with any luck they will become your extended recruitment team, bringing in more enthusiastic volunteers for your organization.

So try taking play in your voluntary organization from a four-letter word to simply a form of amusement. And have some fun doing it!

For more information, see:
Kerr, Michael. You CAN'T be serious - Putting humour to work (2004). Canada

Websites:
Language in the Workplace - Humour
Workplace Humor

Sue Tersmette, MEd, has been addicted to volunteering for tons of different organizations in "oodles" of positions over the past 25 years. She is currently the volunteer manager of more than 150 FANTASTIC volunteers in a nonprofit organization in Calgary, Alberta. You can contact Sue at sueandwalt@shaw.ca.