Work needs to be fun.

Do you believe that work needs to be fun? Malin Carlsson and Sophia Nilsson work at the business area Product Information at our Gothenburg office. And they know all about how to make fun things happen at work.

It is often said that people who are having fun at work together with their colleagues are going to collaborate more, communicate on a higher level, and feel more creative. Our brains need passion, play and release at work. We believe this is true!

Another thing that can come more naturally when having fun at work, is to share the stories we experience together, both on- and offline. And of course, healthy and happy employees help attract both new customers and new colleagues.

Then what do we do?

We work at two different departments that used to be one, but since we like to hang out, we still do (almost) every department activity together. We highly value the input from the teams and want everyone to feel part of the activity decisions, as it is our colleagues who create the events. We are merely pulling the strings together.

At the end of each year, we collect suggestions from the team that we use in a poll to let the team vote and rank their favourite larger activities. Here we need to have the cost, time and “togetherness” in mind. Once we have the result, we get an approval for four activities for the next year from our department managers. Then the planning begins. For example, yearly activities can be:

• March: Cooking class with professional chefs
• May: Pentathlon at Liseberg
• September: Quiz-night
• December “Glögg-kväll”

In between these larger activities, our wonderful colleagues arrange social gatherings almost every week. For example “After work-run”, dinners at home, after work quiz, Wordfeud competitions and game nights. Our focus is to spend time together but our teams also love to compete, leading to a competition in almost every activity.

Of course, there are challenges as well. From ensuring that everybody feels that the activity is not forced to trying to keep them diverse and more or less suitable for everybody. Unfortunately, there will sometimes be activities that do not fit everybody’s liking, so our job is to make sure that number is as small as possible.

Do you want to have more fun at work? Here is our advice:

• Simplicity is key. Small “everyday activities” is a great start.
  – Eat lunch, drink coffee and take breaks together.
  – Meet for after work activities: quiz nights, boule, etc.
  – Lunch workouts
  – Digital challenges (wordfeud for example)
• Use simple communication to get everyone involved.

…and remember, someone has to start, and your colleagues will be inspired.

Facts:
Name: Malin Carlsson
Title: Training developer at Product Information Training
Education: Teacher Education with a specialization in media for preschool and elementary school grades F-5. After graduation courses in for instance project management.
Worked at Semcon since: 2017
I have most fun at work when I…: get to be creative and develop new concepts for our customers togheter with my collegues. But also when we get the chance to hang out after work.

Name: Sophia Nilsson
Title: Information management consultant
Education: BSc International Business
Worked at Semcon since: 2017
I have most fun at work when I…: …feel challenged with a great team around, when I have wonderful colleagues around me both in situations at work and off-work

About Semcon Stories
A series of articles for everyone wondering what it’s like to work at Semcon. With Semcon Stories our employees get to highlight certain exciting aspects of their jobs.