Have we lost the skill of having fun at work?

I was challenged the other day to think about ways to have fun at work. It appears unfortunate, that it has come to this. Spontaneity appears dead. Fun needs to be booked into the calendar. (I’m free for some fun next Thursday week, between 1 and 3pm. Send me an invite.)

That is not to say that I don’t have the odd laugh at work.  Many of us spend more time with our work colleagues than we do with our families, and open work plan living compels us to get along with our working-pod neighbours. There is always common ground across which humour can be shared, often now involving a YouTube video and a cute animal (did you see that Raccoon scale that building in Minnesota?? Awww!)

Certainly, the days of regular work related “down time” seems to have gone the way of smoking at the desk. When I first started full time work 1989, there was a room in our CBD building that had billiard table, and a table-tennis table. Bonding with colleagues over Friday night drinks and playing pool, was the weekly event to look forward to.   I also recall little things like “duck tie Thursday”, when everyone had to wear a tie featuring a duck. And there was “word of the week”, when an obscure word was circulated which had to make its way into some form of official communication. I specifically recall the word OBDURATE; used in a sentence “I have a dog; its name is Obdur. On Sunday, Obdur ate my risk report”. It was probably funnier at the time.

It is a given that progressively tighter expense management (plus a dose of operational risk awareness on employee welfare) has largely taken away the Friday Night drinks (and the billiard table). Digital connectivity, virtual teams, flexible working hours, and a focus on “Work/Life balance” have taken over our work lexicon as the stuff that is important.  Dare say there are some that may even conclude that in today’s world, we are not meant to have fun at work. Fun is a diversion from what we are being paid to do.   Have fun on your own time: work time is for focussing on customers, getting through your inbox, trying to make a difference, and getting home to your kids before they go to bed. Then you can have some fun. 

Bah humbug. 

I have to believe this is not where it concludes. Yes, the days of stuffing some red wine bottles into an internal envelope and disappearing for lunch on a Friday are gone. But having some fun at work can’t have disappeared altogether? 

So what do you do to keep up the levity? What are the big (and small) things that you do, to keep the odd smile on people’s faces, and have a bit of healthy fun? I'm going to look for a duck tie.