Fake Fun at Work Doesn’t Work
By: Ree Jackson
Tags: Work, Workplace Culture, Management, Relationships, Leadership

Somewhere, in a conference room far, far away, there is a consultant leading a group of new managers in a session about how to lead a team.

They listen, with paper cups of coffee and half eaten muffins sitting in front of them. The walls are covered in motivational posters of people climbing mountains on clear days with quotes like, “Never, ever quit until you reach your summit.” One man’s eyes keep closing for longer than a blink.

The consultant enthusiastically points her clicker at the projector to advance her next Powerpoint slide entitled:

“Building Your Team’s Morale: How Fun is the Key to Success!”

The new managers lean in. Finally, a topic they can get excited about after sessions on how to have difficult conversations or how to increase productivity.

For the next hour, the consultant gives examples of so-called innovative ways that managers can introduce “fun” into an office setting. From having a bake-off with employees, to celebrating birthdays, to letting employees wear jeans on certain days, the consultant encourages these new leaders to “color outside the lines” and bring a sense of joy to the job.

Concern about morale is important. Joy on the job is a worthy goal. However, how do you keep things real without creating unintentional uncomfortable situations with your brand of workplace fun?

From my experience, it’s tricky.

Freaking Out Over Fun

A friendly way of building morale can get weird fast.

Last year, our workplace decided to get “fun,” and declared that one week in September would be Spirit Week. The idea was to take employees back to their fun, carefree high school days. Every day was a designated a different theme. We had hat day. Favorite team day. And the scariest day of all….1980’s Day. On that day, my boss actually dressed up like Dee Snider from Twisted Sister. And then proceeded to visit every department to get employee reaction.

I hid in the bathroom until the coast was clear.

For introverts like me, activities like this add a layer of anxiety to the workplace. Having my boss looking for the reaction (read: approval) of employees creates a situation that is unbearably uncomfortable. It also has nothing to do with my ability to be a good employee. On some level, it feels almost like an unspoken form of workplace bullying. If I don’t dress up every day for work based, will I be judged harshly in my evaluation for not being a team player?

Honestly, is office fun really fair?

Some may say I am making too much out of the issue of office fun. It is reasonable to want some levity introduced into our work lives. Work can be monotonous, mundane, and stressful. People are just trying to be nice.

Sometimes I feel like I’m the jerk because I don’t want to engage. But I know the reason that I don’t want to participate is because fake fun is phony. It is a distraction from the real issues at work. It solves nothing of value.

As an employee, I want authenticity.

The Antidote to Fake Fun

There are real issues that must be dealt with in every place of business. Good managers know the key to solid morale is to take on the challenges, not run from them like the track star on the motivational poster in the conference room.

One of the best leaders I worked for once pulled his management team together for a meeting. He told us that looking ahead at projections on sales figures, it was likely revenue would take a significant hit in the next fiscal year. He told us he was concerned because he did not want to lay off staff, creating hardship for those leaving and for those staying who would need to take on extra duties. He asked us to take a week to think of some ways to prepare for this reality, including creative solutions that had not been tried at our company.

What happened in the next week was actually exciting. Instead of people beginning to worry and gossip about future, everyone broke off into groups spontaneously to talk through ideas about what we could do to avoid a crisis. All the thinking, discussing, and yes — even that motivational word “dreaming” was happening. Although we did allow ourselves to get a little anxiety-ridden thinking about all the potential what-ifs, it was easy to move back into focus and think of new ways to do the work.

That exercise proved beneficial. Our boss listened to our thoughts. A few new innovations actually got implemented. Not everything was smooth, but being part of a solution rather than having policy dictated to us as employees proved inspirational. When things didn’t work, we gathered together to find new ways. Although we did go through some budget cuts, we avoided layoffs, and the following year, we had a good turnaround because of some of the new processes we started.

When the new sales numbers came in, we did celebrate with a pizza party. It was nice. It felt earned. We all wore normal clothes. There was no singing and dancing. Just camaraderie and a deeper appreciation of our colleagues.

Having a leader who treats employees like adults rather than children and who chooses transparency and action over gimmicks is fun. That is the best way to boost morale.