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Does Having Fun Make IT More Enjoyable?
Lam1969 writes "ComputerWorld is running an article stating that some senior managers in IT think the answer to boosting morale is to have more fun on the job. The IT managers interviewed for the article claim making people laugh contributes to successful businesses and reduces turnover. How do you have fun? According to the article, Dale Sanders, head of IT at Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, 'has posted photos on the intranet of staffers caught in awkward moments installing cables or servers, for instance. Sanders encourages others to add funny (and tasteful) captions.' John Wade, CIO at Saint Luke's Health System Inc., sometimes dresses in drag and encourages other unusual behavior. Other potential tactics for laughs include encouraging self-expression, encouraging 'serious play', and asking potential hires their favorite funny movies or comedians."
Does having fun make ANY job more enjoyable?.................. *yes*.
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Yes, that is a universal principle. At the office, I've instructed my staff to give every 100th Big Mac "extra-special" treatment.
it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
They say it fosters a more special bond between you and your employer.
There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
You be as understanding as possible with them when they need to take care of their families
How about accepting a little less profit as a price to pay for supporting good workers in your community (and companies need help defending and encouraging this practice)
How about getting rid of employees, especially managers, that are abusive and/or want to build little fiefdoms
Lastly, how about you take the bitter employees who like to complain about every little perceived slight and fire their asses ASAP for being disruptive. I know my girlfriend, who works as a softare developer and hates working for women, would back this wholeheartedly, but perhaps that's because it'd be the cause of most of her female peers getting fired on the spot.
Look, work is typically what we wouldn't do if given the choice not to do it. That's why it's called work, it's supposed to be laborious and when it's not, you've got something great going for you. The best way to keep good people is to protect them, challenge them and give them excellent opportunities to get rewarded for working hard for their employer. You can let them play Halo for an hour a day on company time, but if they still work for a typical good ol' boy network and/or hyper-PC office or a PHB with sociopathic tendencies, you'll never have the kind of work environment that can match the aforementioned environment that makes work be work, but makes people feel like they get something good and safe from their blood, sweat and tears.
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
succeed.
If you are succeeding, and people have a meaningful part in that sucess, and are treated like they have a meaningful part in that success, then you don't have motivation problems.
Of course, that's like Steve Martin's routine about how you can make a million dollars and never pay taxes. Part one is get a milion dollars, part two is don't pay your taxes. Most of us don't know how to get to step one.
It's like whistling when you walk past the graveyard, the cargo cult management formulas for improving morale and productivity. I remember once spending a week long retreat with the CEO, in a cabin on a remote island with no electricity, nothing but the senior managers, a Phd management consultant and piles of flip charts. The topic: what is the business we are in. I remember thinking, if the CEO doesn't friggen know, we're in deep shit.
Incompetence, lack of direction and above dread of that which must not be spoken are like millstones around our necks. Doubt gnaws at us: fear that the terrible secret of how poorly we have managed our commitments will be made public. Anger and resentment eats at us like a canker, patched over with thinning layer of hopeless bravado. We struggle daily through a morass of pointless activity: the bulk of the work we do is cleaning up our messes, shifting blame, or delaying the inevitable.
Free your workers from these burdens and you won't need any tricks. Tear of the covers on the festering mess and let the light and air in. Don't try to manage the morale problem: you can't without patronizing, and if your workers aren't smart enough to know they're being patronized, they're probably not smart enough to work in IT.
If you try so hard to make things come out the way they are supposed to, and it doesn't work, perhaps dealing with the way things are wouldn't be so bad. If you are so much less than the sum of your parts, then perhaps you are misusing your parts. Look around with open eyes: things may be bad, but they aren't so bad that they can't be improved. Mere mediocrity would be outstanding in the cesspool of dishonesty and pretense that is business. Our model of success has become exploitation, where there are only two classes of people: winners and suckers. Many have done well by this model. But not you. If you are worrying about motivation you don't have the stomach for that game. Real operators don't need gimmicks, they keep the suckers eating out of their hands until they're done with them. You obviously need a different model.
In short: Promise little, deliver much. Don't manage the people around you, relate to them. If managing appearances doesn't work, then live by eternal virtues like honesty, fidelity, honor and bravery. Don't think like a manager, think like a primitive barbarian hero: company after all comes from the same linguistic roots as companion: it means people who share each other's bread.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.