Bringing play to work
Ellie Mason & Tamara Salajan
We are human beings leading human beings. And as humans we need to strike a balance between the potential heaviness of the work and play or levity.
Play is good for us. It shifts the energy (away from heavy or serious or stagnant) and promotes creativity and innovation, connection and learning. As leaders we are always holding that tension, knowing when to lean in to one or the other and when to rebalance.
We also need to know when play or humour is not useful, like discharging the tension in an environment that actually requires the uncomfortable state for growth or development. Offering feedback for example, we don’t want to undermine the message by wrapping it in humour. In this article, we’re not talking about humour, but rather “play”.
Play is allowing yourself to be authentic, regardless of potential embarrassment or judgement from others. Ben Crowe’s definition of play at Mojocrowe is “being fully present, curious, joyful and vulnerable in the process of doing something”. We understand the importance of curiosity and vulnerability, so we’re already halfway to play.
An important part of leadership is modelling the behaviours you want your team to reflect back at you and the rest of the organisation. Play is a big one to model because people might feel they need permission and clear boundaries to be playful at work. So set the tone by demonstrating play and setting up appropriate activities for people to engage in.
High performing teams often strike a balance of play, then work, then play, then work. Not taking themselves too seriously and knowing when to relieve tension or stress. It releases walls or barriers and hopefully creates the undercurrent of potential and creativity and joy.
I had the unfortunate experience of being in the emergency department at hospital the other night, and I’m happy to report – as busy and serious and important the work the doctors and nurses were doing, I witnessed laughter, levity, and connection too. As a patient (or customer) this impacted my experience and lightened the anxious state I was in too.
In most jobs, we can’t be playful all the time, but balance can be achieved. Meaningful play habits can even complement your work. We’re not talking about comedy nights (that could quickly become an HR nightmare) or passive aggressive digs at people under the guise of a joke. Play requires a level of following your intuition, reading the room so to speak and to know your audience.
Let’s look at some of the ways play can work at work.
Creating and innovating from a state of play can look like being curious and daring when looking at how to do/fix/start something. Building a stack of outrageous ideas for problem solving and continuous improvement opportunities – thinking right outside the square and potentially finding a fresh way of coming at the problem – while having a laugh at the weird and wonderful suggestions along the way. Or even injecting a sense of adventure in a mundane task. This could look like:
Out-of-this-world / so-silly-it’s-hard-to-imagine brainstorming sessions.
Improvisation activities.
Futures thinking exercises… imagining “what if?”
Building connection and relatedness from a state of play could be uplifting or discharging or recharge the energy when things are heavy or intense or focused for a sustained period.
This could be like:
Everyone on a meeting having a themed background on your Zoom/Teams screen and talking about its meaning (favourite photo/place on earth/cartoon character, etc).
Going for a walk (by yourself or with someone else) and intentionally noticing the simple things around you that are awe inspiring (rain droplets caught on a leaf, a flower growing in the cracks of concrete, the way sunlight penetrates the clouds or trees, etc). This often unlocks insight or solutions for the challenges you’ve been struggling with… like when you stop looking for something – it presents itself.
Upping your small talk game with icebreakers and convo starters (what did you want to be when you were a kid? When was the last time you had an adventure and what was it? When was the last time you really laughed? Or more conventional favourite movie/TV show/restaurant/meal?)
Learning from a state of play could be owning mistakes, failures or hiccups by bringing a sense of levity. Or breaking up training with fun activities to keep people engaged. This could look like:
“Who can point out where I went wrong here?” It’s one thing to be self-deprecating… just be careful not to shame others using this technique.
Scavenger hunts in the form of either the tangible activity or in a document you want people to read “find these things and win a prize/bragging rights/go home an hour early”.
Fun competitions (just don’t get too serious, that would defeat the purpose!).
If you’re a trainer or facilitator, action could include:
Shifting the mood in the room with some silliness or shaking out your limbs.
Calling out the heaviness in the room and actively seek out some playtime.
Just watch out for potentially judgemental comments or observations disguised as fun.
Some simple ways to shift the weight of work or expectations or deadlines from your shoulders could be as simple as listening to uplifting music, or better yet – dancing and movement. You could even spend a moment or two colouring in, it’s a simple yet effective way of calming nerves, quieting the brain and taking some deep breaths too.
How are you showing up for your team? Is there room for meaningful play? After all, it’s fun to have fun!
