Hello, and welcome to another installment of HR Intervention!
Well, another month of wackiness has come and gone, and things are still odd.
I’m sure you’re dealing with your fair share of difficulties and painful adjustments, and collectively all of this upheaval has plenty of capacity to make work (and life) miserable.
Thankfully, I have a few ideas that will brighten up even the darkest of moods. Work might be different now than it was a couple months ago, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have some fun with it.
So, are you ready for a few shiny new ideas?
Brilliant Idea #1: Include some animals in your video calls
And no, I’m not talking about having your pet cat sit on your lap while you chat.
I’m saying you should have a dedicated video feed for an animal head that can whinny and oink right alongside all the people heads we’re all staring at. In fact, there are several businesses that will rent you a live video feed of a donkey (or llama, if you prefer) to liven up the first few minutes of your next group meeting.
Will spending $50 on a video feed of a honking donkey help solve your particular issues?
No. Is it a small price to pay for making everyone you work with happy?
Absolutely.
Brilliant Idea #2: Remind people to do things you shouldn’t have to remind them to do
Are your employees dumb enough to check their mail without wearing their pants?
Of course not. But the police in Maryland apparently felt compelled to remind area residents that they needed to, so it is an actual thing. And a Florida judge was recently obligated to tell some Florida lawyers that they should probably wear shirts and not hide under their covers while doing their jobs.
So if you don’t want to actually remind your employees to wear pants and shirts and things while they work, that’s okay – you can just show them how much better they are than some others out there!
That’s fun sometimes, too.
Brilliant Idea #3: Encourage your team to come up with a weird Guinness record to strive for
Because there are no shortage of weird Guinness world records.
For example (not making any of these up), most balls caught by a dog in one minute, world’s heaviest strawberry, fastest typing using only your nose, and my personal favorite, most walnuts smashed by nunchuks in one minute.
There is absolutely no reason why your team can’t come up with something equally as absurd as these, and it should be a fun (or at least memorable) team-building experience even if you don’t manage to turn your efforts into an official world record.
There you go, folks, some light in the darkness.
Have a great month, and remember – please put on some pants already!!
For some more traditional tips on engaging and managing employees while working remotely, check out our free infographic:
Jeff Havens is a speaker, author, and professional development expert who tackles leadership, generational, and professional development issues with an exceptional blend of content and entertainment. He is a contributing writer to Fast Company, Entrepreneur, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal; and has been featured on CNBC and Fox Business. For more information, or to bring Jeff to your next meeting, call 309-306-1781, email info@jeffhavens.com, or visit Jeffhavens.com.