How to Add Fun to Your Workday
Many spend around 50% of their waking hours in the workplace.
According to Freshbooks.com, it is estimated that the average person will spend one-third of their life at work. That’s about 90,000 hours at work over your lifetime.
I have not done the math for myself, but having spent 42 years working in the dental office, I know it adds up. I spend more time with my coworkers than my family during the work week. Because we devote so much of our time to work, we must enjoy these hours and find fulfillment in what we do.
Adding fun to the work environment can boost morale, help relieve stress, and avoid workplace burnout. Employees who have fun together usually communicate better with each other.
Let’s look at a few ways to intentionally add more fun to your workplace.
Recognize Birthdays and Anniversaries
Use these special milestones to celebrate each other and build personal connections.
In our office, we take turns bringing a birthday treat or snack. We organize it by having the person who had the most recent birthday bring the treat for the next birthday. It can vary from donuts to traditional cake to Dr.’s favorite Special K Bars! The doctor usually gives a plant or flowers with a meaningful note for special work anniversaries.
Celebrate Team Success
You might have production goals that motivate your team to work together, and reaching these goals should be acknowledged and rewarded. But look for those smaller, more personal moments that make work satisfying.
Complaining about the conflicts or problems we have with some patients is easy. Instead, have your teammates share when they encounter a rewarding experience.
It can brighten everyone’s day when you share that a patient gave a compliment for how well their prophy went, or for how they appreciated what you did to help them through their impression/records appointment, or the thanks they give for assisting them in understanding their insurance coverage.
Sharing the joy makes work fun!
Events Outside of the Office
You may already have a tradition of a holiday party near the end of the year.
Why not plan something mid-summer, like a Bar-B-Que? We have included our families in this activity, allowing us to meet some of the most influential people in our coworkers’ lives.
Other events could consist of:
- A tour of a vineyard with a tasting
- Going to a garden center that offers a potting class
- A group painting class
- Dinner together at a favorite pizza place
- Hosting a game night
Sometimes, some of my team members use their lunch break to take a brisk walk together or play a game of Uno Blast as an alternative to individually bonding with their cell phones.
Develop a Fun Committee
Give the Fun Committee the task of planning enjoyable activities while you work together. A well-balanced committee should have a mix of different age groups, represent multiple departments, and include a mix of newer team members and those who have been at your practice for several years. You will also benefit from including different personality types for a better range of ideas and perspectives.
The Fun Committee must meet for a planning session to develop the Fun Agenda. To start, decide how often you would like to have something planned. Once a month or every other month may be a good starting point. They might be more ambitious and want to hold small events every couple of weeks between the monthly events.
What is the Fun Budget?
If your practice allocates $XXX.XX for the entire year, what activities will fit this budget?
Massages and mani-pedis are excellent but might take a lot of your funds. Be sure to take a look at low-cost and no-cost options.
Silly Sock Day was a fun, no-cost event in my office that we posted to interact with our followers on our Facebook site.
Another hit with the team was our Pumpkin Decorating Contest. The committee purchased small pumpkins from a local farmer for our 14 employees. We were instructed to decorate it and return it to work to display in our reception area.
We let our patients anonymously vote for the ones they liked the best for three weeks. The three pumpkins with the most votes won a small prize and bragging rights. Our patients enjoyed this, and our whole team enjoyed interacting and connecting with them. You could also open up the voting to your social media following if you desire.
Coming Up with Ideas
All team members should be encouraged to give their input and ideas to the Fun Committee. More ideas are available by doing a Google search for Fun in the Workplace.
You may want to start with:
- Indeed.com’s “26 Ways to Make Work Fun”
- Pinterest.com’s “51 Work Activities: Making the Work Atmosphere Fun Ideas”
- Teambonding.com’s “15 Fun Activities for Employees”
Once your committee decides which ideas to implement, you may want to have the Clinic Manager or Doctor approve them.
One idea that needed pre-approval from our doctor was for a Local Shopping Spree.
To surprise our monthly staff meeting, we had our employees break into small groups of 4-5 by a random drawing to mix us up from our usual work friends. Each employee was given $100.00 in Fun Money with the mission to go shopping in these groups for about 1 hour and spend it all among our town’s local merchants.
We then met for a team lunch to give a Show-and-Tell of our purchases. The businesses in our small town recognized us from our dental office and told us how much they appreciated us shopping locally. We all had fun shopping and sharing this time.
We spend a significant amount of our time in the workplace. Make a plan to intentionally add elements of fun and seek joy in your daily work lives and the work lives of your fellow team members. This can lead to a rewarding career in dentistry and deeper, more fulfilling connections with your work family.
About the Author
Narla Hulstein, FAADOM
Narla Hulstein began her career in dentistry as a Certified Dental Assistant in 1982. She transitioned to office management in 2001.
She has held the practice manager position for Shetek Dental Care in Slayton, MN since the clinic opened its doors 20 years ago. With her leadership, the clinic has grown to a team of 14, with eight fully scheduled treatment rooms.
Narla received her AADOM Fellowship distinction in 2017.
