Eric P. Bloom: 4 ways to make work feel more like play
By Eric P. Bloom
GateHouse News Service
Copyright © Eric P. Bloom, All Rights Reserved
Who said that work can’t be a little bit of fun? After all, we spend forty or more hours a week
earning our weekly wage. I’m not suggesting that we don’t work hard or that no matter how
hard we try it will all be fun. I’m just saying that, if we have to be there anyway, we might as
well try to enjoy ourselves. Additionally, as managers, we should try to make work fun, or at
least as pleasant as possible, for those who work for us.
The previous paragraph may be a bit of a tongue twister and a little bit of tongue-in-cheek, but
it’s true. Creating a pleasant, enjoyable, reduced stress environment for your staff can

Improve productivity

Minimize attrition

Increase product quality

Maximize department efficiency
As the department manager, you have a major impact on your group’s mood, culture, and general
atmosphere. As a result, how you personally act, feel about work, and treat your team can have a
major impact, positive or negative, on your team’s results. For example, which of the following
two types of managers would you like to have?
1. A manager who smiles, treats issues as challenges not roadblocks, seems to enjoy his/her
job, and is excited about the day ahead
2. A manager who always seems mad at the world, treats issues as problems that are
painful to fix, and constantly acts like the last place on earth they want to be is at the
office
My guess is that you would rather work for boss #1, not boss #2. That said, the people that are
working for you, will most likely answer the same way. The one difference, however, is that in
this case you are the boss, not the employee.
As the manager, there are a number of things that you can do to be boss #1 and as a result, help
foster a pleasant, enjoyable, dare I say, fun work environment. They are:
1. Try to make work as enjoyable as possible for yourself. After all, you are there all day,
everyday, so you might as well make the best of it. Additionally, and most pertinent to
this column, is as the team’s leader your mood will be infectious on those you oversee.
It’s hard to act differently than you feel eight hours a day. If you are not happy, then
your team will eventually feel it. Conversely, if you are happy, your team will also
innately sense it and draw from your positive energy.
2. Take advantage of small wins to provide positive feedback to your team and try to make
a little fun out of it. As an example, say you are in a sales environment, whoever makes
the most cold calls the previous week gets a free hot cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee on
Monday. Will your sales people work hard all week just to save a two dollar expense on
Monday? Most likely not. However, they will work hard for the opportunity to have
you (his/her boss) present them their coffee at the Monday morning staff meeting. From
your perspective as a manager, that can be two bucks well spent.
3. Try to turn business issues and problems into challenges that can be overcome. This
may sound like a silly cliché, but making day-to-day tasks feel a little more like an
adventure than drudgery, can actually improve morale, productivity, and quality. After
all, if Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer can make painting a fence feel like fun, surely you can
attempt to do the same with your department’s tasks. The funny thing is that even if you
can’t make it fun, the mere fact that you tried will be appreciated by your staff.
4. Try to foster a relationship of common purpose, camaraderie, teamwork, and friendship
between the members of your team. People like being with people they like and there is
an excitement and comfort that comes with working with your friends toward a common
goal. As the manager, this environment of shared friendship and purpose can make even
the most difficult and stressful jobs more achievable and enjoyable.
In closing this topic, I would just like to say that I realize that there are many jobs that will never
be fun or feel particularly challenging, and may just feel like an ongoing and endless march
toward retirement. That said, even in these circumstances, the right manager attitude and
management techniques can positively (or negatively) affect worker morale, and thus enhance
productivity, and work quality, whether it is moving the proverbial dial from good to better or
simply from awful to not-so-bad.
The primary advice and takeaways from today’s column is to know that:

How you personally act, feel about work, and treat your team can have a major impact,
positive or negative, on your team’s results.

Making day-to-day tasks feel like new adventures, can actually improve morale,
productivity, and quality.

Yes, there are many jobs that will never be fun or feel particularly challenging, but the
right manager attitude and management techniques can move the proverbial dial from
good to better or simply from awful to not-so-bad.
Until next time, manage well, manage smart, and continue to grow.
Author Bio:
Eric P. Bloom, based in Ashland, MA, is the president and founder of Manager Mechanics LLC,
a company specializing in Information Technology (IT) leadership development and the
governing organization for the ITMLP© and ITMLE© certifications. He is also a nationally
syndicated columnist, keynote speaker, and author of the award winning book “Manager
Mechanics: Tips and Advice for First-Time Managers.” Contact him at
[email protected], follow him on Twitter at @EricPBloom, or visit
www.ManagerMechanics.com.