“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
That’s a famous saying that we’ve heard time and time and again. Good thing that many companies and organisations inject fun into their work culture to make the environment more encouraging and energetic. Others even cap their workweek with an enjoyable Friday pursuit where the staff can unwind and bond together. Moreover, some are not deterred by the current crisis and even find it helpful to have a fun Friday activity to motivate their team.
Take inspiration on how these entrepreneurs create a delightful business culture for their people and get some ideas on how you can also enliven your work atmosphere.
Organise team activities and social events with your team
Fun! That is one of the core values of StudioHawk, which Harry Sanders founded in 2015. As a specialised SEO agency, they take their work seriously, but not themselves. Which is why they were named SEMRush’s 2019 agency of the year, as well as 2019 Optus Media Marketing and Advertising Business of the Year.
With restrictions in place, they try to still make working as enjoyable as possible. According to Harry, “We do 3 things every Friday during isolation to keep things fun and the team as connected as possible while working from home. Every Friday, our office manager will send around a random fact for a thing she likes to call 'Fun Fact Friday'. We also have a 'StudioHawk Friday Feels playlist' wherein every week, each team member picks a song to add to the playlist and 20 different songs are included each week on the playlist. Then at 5:00 pm every Friday, we have a team Zoom catch-up and end-of-week drinks.”
In addition to all these, “once or twice a month on a Friday, we host a team social event. So far, we have had a couple of games and pizza nights. Last week, we did Cork ‘n Canvas, then next Friday we will be doing pottery! We set aside a 'culture' budget each quarter that we use for activities to bring the team together,” Harry shared.
And if these are not enough, they are planning more activities these coming days. Harry revealed, “We are about to kick off our fitness and health month in September called 'SWEAT-TEMBER'. As a team, we will be doing a PT session run by one of our clients once a week, meditation a few mornings a week and a fitness challenge that includes a step challenge! This will help us all keep connected, active and, hopefully, help unwind.”
Because of these efforts, it strengthens their corporate culture while continues to build relationships among their team members. “We have a really strong team culture at StudioHawk, ask anyone here and they will tell you their favourite thing about working here is the people and culture. This is one thing that we did not want to lose while working in isolation. Bringing people together is made even more important. These initiatives and small tokens of appreciations help drive people forward in a time when things may seem a little lonely and allow us to continue excelling with our values. In David Ogilvy's words, agencies that don't enjoy what they do don't put out good work - so make a culture that people love working for,” stated Harry.
Build sustainable ways for work to be enjoyable
It is a different case for those in the food industry, such as Etto Street Pasta Bars. As explained by its Founder, David Ansett, who is also the Founder of the marketing tech company Brandvas and branding agency Truly Deeply, “We’re a 7 day-a-week business with different staff working different shifts so there’s never a sense of ‘end of the week’. Our end-of-shift each night is our ‘Friday’. Once the last customer has gone, the doors are closed and the volume of the music goes up. Clean-up and pack down is a pretty casual affair.”
So how do they inject fun into the work environment? “Our 7 day-a-week trade means we have to try to build sustainable ways for work to be enjoyable. For us, this is all about a relaxed but hard-working place to come to work. For instance, we encourage social chat throughout a shift,” David remarked. Not only that, but they also provide certain benefits for their people. “All the staff get a free meal of their choice for any shift they work. Managers have the authority to open a bottle of wine after a tough shift or to celebrate a birthday, for example,” he added.
While they try to make their work environment an enjoyable place for their team members, they also make sure that quality is observed at all times. “We have a pretty strict framework for performance, but from there, it’s up to each manager to make a workplace that fits with them as a leader and their staff as a culture. It means each restaurant has its own culture. South Melbourne has a cheeky, Italian culture, while Kirkdale has more of a South American love-for-life feel.”
“As we encourage each manager to see their restaurant as their own business, they create their versions of the Etto culture. Having run a branding agency for 30 years, keeping a positive culture in restaurants is easy by comparison. Although the role of a hospitality worker is tougher than working in a creative agency, the type of people the industry attracts, the form of work, their expectations and the camaraderie formed between teams lead to a relatively positive staff culture that requires less management. It helps that we pay award wages, which for many of our staff is a relatively positive experience in our industry,” David shared.
Create a culture of caring
It’s almost the same case for wine store brand Blackhearts & Sparrows. Co-founder Paul Ghaie described the scenario they have in their stores, “Due to the flexibility of our working hours and the fact that we are a 7-days-a-week, 362-days-a-year type of business, we don't so much do ‘Fridays’.”
But it doesn’t mean that they don’t do something for their team members. Fun things don’t need to have a lot of fanfare and can be done at any given time that is convenient for everyone. As long as your people enjoy what you do for them, that is what matters most. “We keep things pretty simple, such as regular dinners and drinks with the staff,” he clarified.
Caring for their people is important in their organisation, recognising the long-term effect of this on their members and their business, as well. “We tend to focus on ensuring our staff group is looked after really well over the year. We think this creates a culture of caring with the staff feeling their welfare is a priority,” Paul added.
Do regular catch-ups with some rewards and surprises
Since most staff meetings are now done virtually, add a bit of fun to your weekly catch-ups by doing online socials. Add a dash of surprise or some rewards that they can look forward to each week by having fun talks over their choice of drinks or playing games with prizes that you can do over Zoom.
If you have other ideas for fun activities with your team members, especially during these interesting times, please share them with us through the comments section below.