Welcome to Leaders In Play! We interview people who take having FUN at work very seriously. We know, it seems like a crazy concept, but incorporating Play At Work has been proven to improve employee engagement, creativity, recruitment, retention, and provide countless other benefits that help create healthy company culture. So, without further ado, enjoy our first installment of this interview series!
Leaders In Play: Meet Sam Arpino, DoSomething's Culture Queen
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Play at Work, Fun at Work, Work Culture, Gratitude, Culture, Company, Company Culture, Leadership, Core Values, Goals, Women, Interview, Leaders In Play
A thank you to our incredible women on National Girls & Women in Sports Day
I don’t usually care much for these designated holidays. But National Girls & Women in Sports Day? You got me there. I’ll play.
Topics: Play, Reflections, Gratitude, Connection, Community, Core Values, Sports, Women, Empowerment
Holiday traditions to warm you up this season, Part II
Earlier this week, we explored some of our staff’s favorite holiday traditions. As is the case with so many storied traditions, we learned some endearing, charming, and heart-warming things about the people we work with every single day.
Topics: Office Culture, Holiday traditions, Play
Holiday traditions to warm you up this season, Part I
Adding some meaningful holiday cheer to the office doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. Hearing about your colleagues’ holiday traditions is a great way to learn more about them, and build even stronger, more intimate connections with the people in your workplace.
Topics: Office Culture, Holiday traditions, Play
Team sports are good for your mental health. Want proof?
Depression and anxiety can be terrifying. But if you want to feel better, you don’t have to face them alone. In fact, research shows it’s better that you don’t.
Instead of traveling down the winding road of recovery by yourself, what if you had a team behind you? What if you had a group of people invested in your well-being, regularly engaging with you on a meaningful level, all while playing a fun game you enjoy?
Topics: Play, Mental Health, Team
Ugh. "Fall back" is right. It’s dark before I leave the office and getting darker every day. The increasingly frigid weather means my days of biking to work are numbered. Everyone has a limit, and my hard limit is 35 degrees, no snow or ice. But pretty soon, slushy 20-degree days will be the norm.
Topics: Insider, Office Culture, Play
3 Halloween lessons to take into the workplace
What if we told you that your childhood Halloween experiences helped influence your professional career? Witch hats, fairy wings, and Superman outfits may be more important in your professional development than you think.
This article will convince you on how you learned to be more risk — taking, creative, and detail-oriented — even when dressed as Dracula.
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Halloween
Burgers simmering on the grill while the bratwursts are slathered in a secret family recipe. Cheap beer and soda chilling in countless coolers. Games of corn hole, flip cup, and Spikeball for friendly competition. Lively chatter filled with jittery anticipation. Fellow fans flaunting your team’s colors, as far as the eye can see.
It’s officially tailgate season.
Topics: Play, Football, Team Building
Why it’s important to add play to your annual budgeting process
To some, budgeting and planning are boring. To most they’re stressful. But to all, they’re a whole lot of work.
As the experts in Play At Work, we’re here to give you tips on how you can start to enjoy and be more creative, productive, and innovative as you think about where to spend next year.
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Team, Budgeting, Business Strategy
A great team is more than just a group of people lumped together. A great team is a well-oiled machine running on all cylinders, fueled by purpose, positivity, and playfulness.
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Team, Team Building
September is the perfect time to reengage your employees — here’s why.
There’s just something about that back-to-school timeframe that makes us want to get back on our grind—in a good way. Hustling. Motivated. Ready to crush it.
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Productivity, Back to School
Do you have an upcoming company event planned which involves breaking the company into teams? Nervous about how that might shake out? Don’t worry. We got you covered.
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Team, Company Retreats
3 Reasons the best ideas come when we’re outside the office
Your idea might be half baked, but it also might be fully genius. So you ask the bartender for a pen, scribble it down on a bar napkin, and continue laughing with friends over a cocktail. You never really know when the muse will visit, which is why the “back of the napkin idea” has become a universal adage.
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Creativity, Innovation, Ideas
Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4: How to add PLAY to your company learning
Wanna know what fun is? The president at the last agency I worked at used to throw candy at employees when they answered her trivia questions at all hands meetings.
Topics: Office Culture, Play, Play at Work, Education, Training
Topics: Play, About, Connection, Community, Company