EMBiz: Why Play Is Important

Laurel Mintz

Hi Guys, Laurel Mintz here with Elevate My Brand. I’m here with our mascot Miso, who I’m sure you’ve seen on our channels. Today we are going to talk a little bit about why play is so important to the work/life balance. As you guys know we run a creative agency here and every now and then we get to the point where we’re just a little bit stale. People are bored, they’re falling asleep at their desks, they’re not excited by the projects they’re working on, and it’s up to me as a leader to shake us out of it and get us back into a creative mindset.

Now, you know that creating your purpose at a business is really important and that also starts with your value proposition. Part of our value proposition here is about play and creativity, which is why bringing that back to the team when we’re having a little bit of a stale moment is so critical and important. If we’re not creative, if we’re not being playful and having a good time doing it, it’s going to really show in our work. 

So, a couple of things we really like to do here a Elevate, obviously we like to bring in the office pooch. She brings a lot of joy to our team, and then every now and then we play the game heads up. I don’t know if you are familiar with that but it’s a really easy download on your phone. It sounds really silly and people are like, “I don’t have time to play, I don’t have time to play a stupid game” but honestly it really just shakes things up and get the energy, the creative flow moving again.

We also use what we call purpose cards, where everyone goes around the room of the other person to spark that creative vibe again, and if we are really in a down creative spot, we  even go outside and stick out feet in the grass to get some grounded energy. We did that the other day and it was really fun for everyone involved.

So again, if play is really part of your core value as a company, even if it’s not, play can really open your eyes on new ways to approach a problem, new ways to deal with team building, and just a great way to create team bonding and have a good time. Cause you know what, we’re not curing cancer, it’s not that serious. So, make sure go get out there, play with your team and have some fun doing what you’re doing.

That’s all for now and stay tuned for more from Elevate My Brand.