fun

The Mind of a Funsmith, Part 1

August 25, 2009

Note: This is part 1 of an interview with Bernie DeKoven.  For the audio of the interview, check out The Mind of a Funsmith, an Interview with Bernie DeKoven. Drew: Welcome to another interview with Humor That Works.  Today we are talking to Bernie DeKoven, the funsmith, author of a number of websites that deal [...]

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The Mind of a Funsmith, an Interview with Bernie DeKoven

August 24, 2009

Bernie DeKoven, Master Funsmith and author of DeepFun.com, JunkyardSports.com, and MajorFun.com, has over 40 years of experience with games and play for both kids and adults.  I sat down with Bernie to talk about the value of play, not only in the workplace, but in life in general. You can listen to the interview below: [...]

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People Trivia: A Fun Team-Building Exercise

July 28, 2009

One of my favorite team-building exercises is simply called “people trivia.” The name says it all: it’s trivia about the people in your organization and it provides the perfect opportunity to learn more about your fellow co-workers. How It Works The setup for people trivia is easy: a month leading up to an organizational event, [...]

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How To Use Humor During a Recession

May 26, 2009

During these tough economic times, it might not seem like the appropriate time to use humor or have fun in the workplace. People are losing jobs, salaries are being cut, and the overall economy seems to keep sinking. But this is exactly the time that humor is needed. Dire times require increased teamwork, creativity and [...]

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Anecdotal Evidence Suggests Humor has Connection to Employee Performance

May 21, 2009

I recently came across an interesting paper titled Humor in the Workplace: Anecdotal Evidence Suggests Connection to Employee Performance. The topic of the paper covers both studies and anecdotal evidence regarding the value of humor in increased workplace productivity.  Some highlights include: Humor is “one of the soul’s weapons [used] in the fight for self-preservation.” [...]

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Office Humor through Acronyms

March 5, 2009

If your work place is anything like mine, it relies entirely too much on acronyms. Reading some documents looks like someone just randomly hit keys on the keyboard. If you want to bring some humor to the workplace, while at the same time rebelling against the use of confusing acronyms, start naming projects with a [...]

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Watchmen

March 5, 2009

Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is the first fiction book on the list and it is a good one.  I recommend it for a few reasons: 1) It’s a great story with compelling characters, 2) It’s a graphic novel which is a different medium than most books (and something we could all learn [...]

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Nicknames: A Simple Team-Building Idea

February 19, 2009

A simple thing you can do to foster a sense of team-building at work is to name the section of your office something indicative of the people that make up that group of cubicles. Not only do you have the opportunity to be creative, but you give you and your peers a common identity by [...]

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Team Building with a Grossest Foods Party

February 5, 2009

I remember back in the fifth grade my math teacher would celebrate every quarter with a “Grossest Foods” party.  The idea was simple–people would bring in various desserts or snacks, as well as lesser enjoyed foods such as anchovies, and you would then eat dessert by mixing and matching the foods.  The person to eat [...]

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Have Fun at Work to Increase Workplace Satisfaction

January 8, 2009

Note: This is part 4 of a 5 part series detailing why it’s important to have humor in the workplace.  This post discusses the obvious reason to incorporate corporate humor – fun. There are 168 hours in a week, 52 weeks in a year, and usually at least 35 years in a normal person’s working [...]

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