Increase Productivity at Work: Have Some Fun

In "The Levity Effect: Why It Pays to Lighten Up", bestselling author Adrian Gostick and humorist Scott Christopher use science to reveal the remarkable power of humor and fun in business. They argue that there's a correlation between having fun and making money: happy people are more productive; more productivity leads to greater profits.

So how do you introduce more fun into the workplace and thereby increase your bottom line? Here are five things you can try:

1. Turn the coffee room into a "Fun Sanctuary" filled with comic books, stand-up comedy routines on audio tapes, toys, and other fun props. Toys can include silly putty, Legos, crayons, wooden blocks, and even nerf ball guns.

2. Every Monday send out a riddle by email and give a small prize to the first person to solve it.

3. Create a bulletin board and have everyone hang up a picture of when they were babies. Better yet, have everyone bring in a picture of their pet and have a contest to see who can match the pets with their owners.

4. Bring in a cake once a month and sing "Happy Birthday" to all those in the office who had a birthday that month.

5. Do something together outside of the office once a month, such as trying out a new restaurant, going to a pub, or having a barbeque.

For more ideas on ways to have fun at work, visit my blog post "Have Fun at Work and Increase the Bottom Line".