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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 449 - Aug 8, 2012 |
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The Elephant in the Room
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Many conflicts in the workplace arise because people ignore the proverbial elephant in the room.
At the Danish auto parts company The Kjaer Group, it's rather hard to ignore the elephant in the room because, well, there's an actual elephant in the room. It's a large stuffed elephant, and it's used as a way to pass along praise to a fellow employee who has done something worthy enough to receive the much-coveted, albeit a little silly, "Order of the Elephant."
High-performing organizations understand the importance of building a culture of continual celebration, recognition and praise. Thanking people on a regular basis has been proven to be one of the easiest ways to boost someone's own level of happiness, and study after study reveals a positive link between the amount of sincere praise given between team members and the performance of the team.
Which is why I like the "Order of the Elephant" concept. Kjaer has made it simple and fun for employees to thank each other, and the stuffed elephant serves as a highly visual and continual reminder of the importance of thanking people. The elephant also serves as a conversation starter - when an employee notices the elephant on someone's desk they'll ask what the employee did to earn the honor, which not only makes the recognized employee feel great, it encourages positive conversations on the need to continually provide great, elephant-sized service to the rest of their teammates.
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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If you're going to experience Olympic-sized blues once the games are over, then keep the fun spirit of competition alive by creating your own office Olympics this summer. I've seen organizations of every stripe create wacky team skill events based on whatever skills are used in their particular office. For example, Argus Industries, a Winnipeg-based manufacturing business, holds team events that highlight some of the skills employees use in the actual manufacturing process of their rubber products. These events aren't just fun - they also help break down barriers between different departments and give the front office folks at Argus a deeper appreciation of just how hard the factory floor employees work.
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Quote of the Week |
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"More than any other element, fun is the secret to
Virgin's success." CEO Sir Richard Branson |
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It's a Wacky World |
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Another world record fell recently. And no, not an Olympic one. This one was for the world's largest cream pie fight. Some 714 participants entered the Ringling Bros.and Barnum & Bailey pie
fight in Dallas, Texas, beating out the previous world record custard pie fight which was held in Des Moines, Iowa in 2011. The event raised money for several charities and served as the perfect kickoff to National Clown Week (the mind reels at the other possible options for kicking off clown week in a big way - especially considering, you know, the big clown feet and all).
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Inspiring Savings
Cost-savings to bring Mike in to speak on
October 1st in PEI or New Brunswick.
Inspiring Reading
Humor at Work TV
In case you missed it last week, Mike visits a "Fun Theory" site in Stockholm, Sweden: Humor at Work TV
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Copyright © 2012 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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