Surviving the Workday

Dear Ms. Theologian,

This year, due to a cruddy economy and the fact that we’ve gone from 150 to 95 people at my office (30+ of thsoe were laid off in the past two months), we’re having the office party in our office, which actually is a neat place (an old warehouse).  The party is a Friday night in mid-Dec.  I emailed the party committee chair and suggested a “Mad Men” theme–y’know, late 50s/early 60s, a time of slick suits, constantly-lit cigarettes, and constantly filled martini glasses.  Class!

I find out today that a) the committee wants me to help with the party and b) they want to group up the folks in the office and have each group build a putt-putt hole with an assigned theme (Madonna, Salvador Dali, Alfred Hitchcock, etc.).  The idea behind this is that morale has been really low and they want to raise it.

This feels like forced fun to me, and it feels like not what a nice, relaxing, professional, holiday office party ought to be.  Nothing says, “We’re nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs” like grouping up people that don’t usually work together and making them build something on their own time.  It seems to suck the fun out of a party, instead of give everyone a chance to breathe and relax.

Or perhaps I’m being a crab because I’m already crotchety at the ripe old age of 33, and my mom made me a REALLY nice dress from a 1952 Butterick pattern to wear to the office party?  (I’ll show the dress on my Tuesday post on WAD.)

Thoughts?
Thanks,
Loving Mad Men

Dear Loving Mad Men,

First, let’s note that Ms. Theologian had to google putt-putt hole to make sure it was what she thought it was. Now that Ms. Theologian is sure that we’re talking about mini-golf, she is trying to envision a mini-golf hole built around the theme of Alfred Hitchcock. Birds fly out of the hole and attack you? Yes? And this is fun?

Trying too hard to have fun isn’t fun. And perhaps it is the time of year, but the idea of coming up with any sort of extra time and money for a project such as this makes Ms. Theologian grumpy and unmotivated. Motivation in the workplace isn’t necessarily made in themed-mini-golf holes.

David Robinson of the Haas School of Business has this to say about morale in the cruddy economy:

In the current time of economic uncertainty, while your staff members may grumble, they are probably relieved still to have jobs. There are two general approaches you can take that will keep morale up.

First, avoid inciting a riot by spending money on other things that your staff sees as irrelevant — nothing upsets people more than being told that there’s no money for raises and then seeing a new piece of art work being displayed in the corporate lobby. And while client relationships are important, this is not the time to be throwing gala dinner parties.

Then, within your own work group, think about what non-monetary rewards you can offer your staff. These include the opportunity to rotate assignments, taking additional training during work hours and showing extra flexibility on vacation dates. Often the smallest piece of consideration on work schedules can make front line staff feel appreciated.

So let’s note that he says nothing about themed mini-golf activities. This doesn’t fall under morale-boosting. Why? Because it may seem completely irrelevant and wasteful in this economy.

On a broad note, the problem with forced fun at work is a. it’s involuntary and b. what is fun for one person is not fun for others—this is why some people collect stamps, some people bowl, and some people watch birds. We don’t all enjoy the same things. For some reason, people don’t seem to understand a and b above. 

-Ms. Theologian

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