Creating a fun work environment for hybrid work employees

Can employees in hybrid work still have fun?

Researchers from the Business School in the University of Auckland believe that it is possible, exploring the importance of fun in hybrid work and psychological safety in a study entitled, Happiness Is ‘Being Yourself’: Psychological Safety and Fun in Hybrid Work.

Dr Barbara Plester, Associate Professor, and Rhiannon Lloyd, Senior Lecturer, the two researchers conducting the study, were aware that the nature of hybrid work may foster greater interpersonal ambiguity with physical cues missing from some interactions, which can create less emotional safety and more employees uncertain and confused about what was acceptable and what was not in the workplace.

To create a positive and inclusive environment for fun that can be optional and boost morale, managers should be the ones to nurture feelings of safety, encourage authentic self-expression, and find creative ways to promote spontaneous fun, which is favoured over scheduled, forced fun.

“Mental and emotional safety should become an important management consideration as, particularly during transitions, we see in our data that employees need to feel safe to take risks to find and stabilise a ‘new awkward’,” said Dr Plester. “Providing time and space for employees to engage in unplanned interactions and activities can help alleviate this issue.”

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While online interactions might lack the spontaneity of in-person interactions, Plester and Lloyd say they also offer the advantage of allowing employees to opt out more easily.

The study also showed that participants also emphasised the importance of senior staff modelling fun for employees to create psychological safety. “Such modelling may need to occur in-person and online, so that both environments are perceived as safe,” said Dr Plester.