Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Is it FUN around there?

My daughter came home from her summer job the other day with a grin on her face. Actually, saying she “came home” doesn’t really give you the picture. She’s 19, and she’s working full eight-hour days this summer with kids, teaching gymnastics and dance camps. So when she comes home in the evening, it’s more a matter of doors slamming, shoes and bags dropping to the floor right inside the door, and a dramatic, sighing, slinking onto the nearest available horizontal surface where she can crash until starvation overtakes inertia. If you have a working teen this summer, you know the drill.

It’s the grin that really throws me, though. “What’s up with the big smile?” I ask her.

“I love my job,” she said. “This is the first job I’ve ever had that I really love.” This from a kid who probably holds the world record for odd high-school jobs: Subway, Baskin-Robbins, the local pizza place, not to mention babysitting for half the neighborhood.

“So what’s different about this job?” me, her nosy mom, inquires.

“Well, I’m doing something I love – dance.” (She’s been teaching dance all year while at college, though. More prying needed.)

“I LOVE the people I work with,” she replies. “Now that I think about it, I think that’s really why I love this job. The people I work with crack me up – they’re so funny. We have so much fun.”

My first response is a little warm glow. My daughter actually likes work – nice!

My second response was this weird little chill: can my employees say that about MY workplace? Is it a place where people laugh all day and just have fun being there? Do I give them the time, space and permission – tacit or explicit – to “crack each other up?”

As the leader around here, I’m sure that when I’m stressed, in a rush, or feeling pressure to get everything done I don’t set the stage for much “cracking up.” I probably DO set the stage for a lot of focused work and productivity (good), but also a lot of isolation and single-mindedness (not so good).

What I really want to achieve is a workplace where people want to show up; where they want to contribute to the “greater good” of the organization, and where they laugh often, too. I want a place where people LOVE working, because I believe that anything I love doing, I’ll do it well and often (this applies to my staff, too).

Funny hat day? Probably not. Relax just a little more often and share a laugh or two? Definitely on the agenda.