I can’t think of a day at mivision when there’s been no laughter. Usually there’s someone who wants to stand on the office ‘podium’ to tell a funny, self-deprecating story.
Often someone will play a joke on a colleague the minute that person naively stepped out of the office. There’s music playing, a bit of a sing-a-long, the occasional movie clip shared, and chit-chat about weekends, family dramas… the hoo-haa goes on.
It sounds like a high school playground – and in some ways it often feels like that too. Yet we get things done – every month we publish, on time, a 92-page magazine jam-packed with a mix of articles and advertising that you, our readers, tell us you like. We put together a few email broadcasts a month, upload content to our website and social media, provide education through the mivision independent clinical education centre and so much more.
Sometimes I wonder how it happens. How did we find time to get any work done in between the fun? Would we achieve even better results if we were to sit in glum silence hammering away at our keyboards from 8.30am to 6pm?
It sounds like a high school playground – and in some ways it often feels like that too
I don’t think so. In fact, I’m positive it wouldn’t happen. Because, from my experience, I’m pretty confident that people who have fun at work are more innovative, and they’re happier too. People who can laugh at themselves are relaxed about trying new things, even if it doesn’t always work out. The ones who feel comfortable with expressing themselves in front of their colleagues are more inclined to be open to new ideas, and to come up with new ideas themselves. And they’re often not afraid to ask questions or ask for help when that’s what’s needed to get a better end result.
Then there’s the spill over effect. I listen to the guys in the office talking with our advertisers, our contributors and our suppliers. They talk business but that part’s usually sandwiched between light-hearted banter. I didn’t brief them to do this – there’s no script. It’s just how we’ve evolved as an office, and it works. The professional relationships we’re all building are amazing.
I think it has a lot to do with liking what we do; liking the people we work with both in and outside the office. And it also has to do with the way we communicate. People engage when the vibe is positive and fun – they listen, they respond, they get involved and they birth new ideas.
They tend to stay around for the long term too, and they build a strong loyalty to the organisation and their teammates. What tends to follow is greater productivity and increased profitability.
When you think about it, we spend over a third of our life walking around on the same piece of carpet as our work colleagues. During some phases of our life, we spend more time with people at work than we do with our family and friends.
If it’s not fun then why do it? Life’s too short for it to be any other way.
