Refilling Cups and Spirits:
How Fun Boosts Productivity
Last week I wrote about the purpose behind our company vacation. This week I want to share a story from the trip that stood out to me and was a great reminder of the power of infusing fun at work.
Anthony, April, Emily & Chef Thach with two members of the “Serenading Servers” aboard the cruise ship.
This first morning at breakfast on the boat I had an experience that immediately made me smile. There were crew members that would walk around the seating area at breakfast, serving coffee and passing out little pastries. What they did was straightforward, but HOW they did it was remarkable. Moving around as a group, the four ladies would serenade the guests with songs. Songs with a popular tune, but lyrics that had been changed to reference coffee and pastries. Instead of Backstreet Boys “I want it that way” it was “weeee waaaant to seeeerve youuuu”. “Mama Mia” was replace with “We’ve got coffee!” And they even sang a version in Spanish to the tune of, “La Bamba".
It was fascinating to watch the impact they had as they went from table to table. Guests were grinning from ear to ear, they were clapping along, and we were one of many tables that took them up on their playful offer as if we were doing them a favor by allowing them to refill our cups. The four ladies assigned to this basic task transformed it into something special. They infused fun into their job, and in turn brought more joy to the patrons on the boat. Here are three reflections about fun at work:
1) Fun and productivity go hand-in-hand.
When people are having fun at work, they end up being more productive and creating a better experience for everyone around them. Think about the times in your life when you had fun at work. I know for me, it made time go by extremely fast and my team was usually recognized for doing great work by the people we interacted with.
2) Fun doesn’t have to cost extra.
The coffee ladies weren’t performers on the ship doing a stunt, they simply had the ability to sing and enjoyed entertaining the guests with riffs on popular songs. Fun does however require some creativity and initiative. Someone has to be willing to do something unexpected and take the risk that others will play along. And that risk is contingent on having the trust of the team that it’s safe to engage in the fun.
3) Fun at work needs guidelines.
It’s smart to have guidelines as to what is appropriate and what is not when it comes to fun at work. But often organizations go too far, overdoing it with rules and regulations and eliminating opportunities for fun. Team members worry about getting in trouble and never attempt to infuse fun into their work. The magic is in finding the right balance of professionalism and fun for your company.
With inspiration this week from the singing coffee ladies, Are you creating room for your team to have fun at work or are you stifling potential efforts with too much structure? Where can you personally find opportunities to infuse more fun into your workplace? And if you are already infusing fun into your workplace, drop us a line, we’d love to hear what you are doing!
Keep MIBE-ing!
Anthony Lambatos
Founder, MIBE
Hospitality Culture Training
Owner, Footers Catering
P.S. Want to see fun and productivity in action? Join us at our MIBE Heart Leadership Workshop in August.
