Fun and Your Team's Mental Health

As a manager, you are responsible for so many things. Arguably the most important thing on your mind though, is the health and well-being of your team, especially with Mental Health Month in May! There are so many things you can do to support your team this month, and all year, but one of our favorites is spending time with your team for FUN rather than just for work.

Fun is such an important part of building a thriving work community. When your team laughs and has a good time together, they feel connected with the people around them. Making memories together maintains that connection. Don’t just take our word for it! Research has shown that having fun together strengthens your bonds and builds trust and communication. Check out this amazing article on the benefits of fun!

Having fun isn’t just enjoyable, it’s healthy too! Smiling has been proven to release endorphins and decrease stress levels. You can literally have less stressed teams by just making sure they have opportunities to smile every day! People who have fun regularly and have an optimistic outlook on life live longer, have better overall mental health, and even have longer lasting marriages and relationships. We’ve all heard that laughter is the best medicine, but that silly phrase is truer than we know!

Your team’s well-being is your first priority, and should be, but it’s a nice bonus that valuing your teams mental health and allowing them the opportunity to have fun increases their productivity. In a recent study by Brigham Young University, “Teams that played a collaborative (video) game together for just 45 minutes were able to increase their productivity on a task by 20%.” (Check out this Forbes article to read more!) This is a much more exciting way to increase productivity than meetings and coaching sessions.

It’s easy to see why fun is such an important thing to add to your to-do-list, but I can already hear you dreading the organization of a team outing. We built an entire company around fun, so we get how much work can go into creating opportunities for fun within your teams! That’s why we have done so much to make fun accessible and easy for you. Click here to book your next team building event!