Improve Your Workplace With Innovation

Hello and greetings from the Godfather of Fun at the fun dept. Thank you for joining me as we highlight the top corporate VALUES as part of our BRINGING VALUES TO LIFE series.

 

Fun and happiness at work enhance innovation by 300% according to the Harvard Business Review. There are also chemical and biological reasons why the act of play makes you more creative. Even 30 minutes of play can unlock hormones and change the way the brain responds to the signals it receives. These feel-good hormones — endorphins, oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin — are the key to some incredible mental health benefits, including improved mood, creativity, reduced stress, and a host of other benefits.

Here is an Innovation EXAMPLE:

A major pharma client wanted to drive innovation at their R&D facility. We co-designed a program that utilized their outdoor walking path. Associates were allotted 30 minutes to walk outside with a coworker from another department. During the walk they were tasked to share 3 fun things about themselves and at least one innovation or improvement in their work. Within the year innovation increased by 150%. As an added bonus their engagement scores increased 16 points to 87%, and 36% of employees reported a new friend at work.

Here is your Improvement CHALLENGE:

Identify areas for improvement/innovation and ask your employees/teams what kind of challenge, game, or activity would make it fun for them. In our experience, they will come up with brilliant ideas and be bought in because they were involved in the process. Tip: you can attach an incentive or small prize, but bigger is not better. Bragging rights are just as important as a prize:)

If you need help bringing values to life, reach out to us directly at teamfun@thefundept.com or visit thefundept.com for more info. Cheers to more fun ahead, and I’ll see you next time.

Innovation is the unrelenting drive to break the status quo and develop anew where few have dared to go.
– Steven Jeffes

If you look at history, innovation doesn’t come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect.
– Steven Johnson