Why playfulness should be your workplace superpower

I love to play. Who doesn’t?

Play is instrumental to a child’s development, giving them the social, physical, and emotional skills that will give them every opportunity to do great things later in life.

However, as we grow older, the practice of play is often lost. But what if we could tap into play to enhance our work and professional relationships?

When effectively utilised, play can be a hugely positive resource for enhancing social awareness and community building within the workplace. Play has been shown to release endorphins, improve brain functionality, stimulate creativity, and help us feel energetic.

Different types of play

As we get older we often get set on who we are and stick to the things that we enjoy and avoid the things that we don’t. This makes sense, but with so many experiences waiting to be enjoyed out there, how can we grow if we don’t push those limits?

Fortunately, there are many ways that we can easily practice play in our lives. In Stuart Brown’s book, Play, he outlines five play archetypes that he has observed during his years of research.

• Rough and tumble play – A great learning medium for everyone. Running, riding, diving, swimming, batting, tug-of-warring, kicking, passing, throwing, chasing. Generally, just moving your body in as many ways as you can imagine.
• Ritual play – Bringing people together for shared common goal. Chess, board games, games, sports, competing. These play activities have set rules where we can create and strategise.
• Imaginative play – Let you imagination go wild! Colouring, writing, painting, storytelling , drawing, crafting, acting; it’s all about creating.
• Body play – Allowing us to develop spatial awareness through movement. Yoga, Pilates, dancing, climbing, MovNat.
• Object play – Bringing us back to our childhood, the use of objects can enhance play. Remember those days where you presented to be soldiers with sticks for rifles? I do! Lego, Scalectrix, Jenga, building forts, snowball fights, frisbees, and of course, sticks.

Playfulness at work

The idea that play is good for us isn’t new. In fact, research shows that people during our earliest ancestry used play to form bonds for survival. However, in the face of intense pressures from work it can be all to easy to forget about the importance of play in creating positive working environments.

Play brings out the best in people and allows us to connect with others much more naturally. It has been shown to keep us functioning at our best even when under stress, supports team work, triggers creativity and innovation, and enables us to see problems with a different lens.

The outcome of all of this? Stronger work ethic, fewer sick days, and an increase in productivity.

Another great bi-product of playfulness is belonging. Through play we can create bonds, commonality, community, and solidarity with each other. Research has found that the desire for acceptance is a greater motivator than money, and that people perform better when they feel cohesion with their colleagues.

Now you know the why it’s time to think of the how. Let’s finish by asking ourselves three building questions, starting with you:

1. How can you practice play every day?
2. How can you and your team practice play together every day?
3. How can your organisation incorporate play into your everyday culture?

Everyday Juice Limited

We believe that everyone has the right to be healthy and happy at work, connected to a community of colleagues who are passionate about making a positive impact on themselves and the workplace.

If you want to create a remarkable place to work for your employees, why not?get in touch.