Fun at work is central to employee motivation. This is not about games for online meetings, but primarily about a productive way of working.
An Editorial of the FOM Magazine
Fun at work? In Germany in particular, this is a rather unknown concept. Proverbs like "First the work, then the pleasure" are familiar to every child in this country, and not without reason.
But work can also be fun! And it should be: A study by the market research institute appinio found that having fun at work had a positive effect on the productivity of 84 percent of those surveyed.
Digital teamwork presents new challenges in terms of "fun at work: Employees today often no longer physically sit in the same office, but work from home. This means that the humorous moments that automatically take place in the office are missing.
Fun at work doesn't require games for online meetings
"Fun" is not to be understood in the sense of "funny". It's not about watching funny cat videos or telling each other office jokes during work hours.
Instead, the primary concern is that work should be motivating and that a pleasant working atmosphere boosts morale.
Of course, it is also possible to maintain a humorous interaction in digital meetings, but this can quickly backfire. Those responsible for meetings should ask themselves during the preparation phase how the meeting participants relate to each other and what kind of interaction is appropriate.
It should also be kept in mind that irony often cannot be conveyed to the same extent in the digital space, as facial expressions and gestures are not transmitted in the same way as in offline meetings.
It becomes particularly embarrassing when you try to force the fun, for example by playing games in online meetings. A professional meeting should not be a shirt-sleeved circle of chairs. Digital games for online meetings and icebreaker questions in check-in meetings often seem more forced than loosening up.
Productivity is crucial for employee motivation
Humor is not crucial for "fun at work". Instead of anecdotes in the coffee corner, the fun factor is more likely to be shaped by productive work.
So the equation goes both ways: More fun at work increases productivity, and more productivity increases fun at work.
Meetings in particular can be a productivity killer: According to a WHU study, managers rated 67 percent of all meetings as failures.
A study of office workers by the University of Applied Sciences in Ludwigshafen found 60 percent of participants suffered from "meeting fatigue." Fifteen percent of the participants even said that meeting fatigue permanently impaired their productivity.
Poor technology also often leads to frustration in online meetings: a survey by Sharp Electronics found that 49 percent of respondents found the technology used frustrating.
One reason for this could also be a lack of user understanding: Only 47 percent of respondents said they had received training on the technology. 28 percent also say they felt excluded from their work because of the technical hurdles. That certainly doesn't add to the fun at work either.
47 percent of respondents say the constant switching between platforms is confusing. In many companies, for example, all platforms are used, from MS Teams to Zoom to Google Meet. On the one hand, this is because it is often impossible to agree on a platform within the organization. On the other hand, external third parties such as customers often work with other software providers.
More fun at work with FOMs
All these studies show that the meeting culture is one of the main drivers to promote "fun at work" and thus employee satisfaction. FOM software provides assistance in this regard.
- The FOM structure establishes standardized meeting norms within the organization so that all meeting participants know what to expect in meetings.
- An interactive agenda guides you through the meeting and predefined attendee directories ensure that meeting participants are not invited to meetings without a reason.
- Tools like digital polling enable employee engagement.
- Different formats such as 15-minute meetings avoid unnecessarily drawn-out meetings.
- Embedding various tools into a single software facilitates handling and documentation.
Digital meetings can be productive and fun. In view of the increasing shortage of skilled workers, companies should ensure a pleasant working atmosphere. This can be achieved both online and offline.
How do you motivate your employees and create a pleasant working atmosphere in your company? Do your employees use FOM tools to increase meeting productivity? We look forward to your input. Write to us at contact@fom-magazin.de.
