Have your employees ever come to work to find you dressed like a chicken? If not, you may be missing an opportunity to improve teamwork, increase enthusiasm and lower stress, says Matt Weinstein, a management consultant and co-author of Work Like Your Dog: Fifty Ways to Work Less, Play More, and Earn More (Villard Books). "Laughter and play," he says, "are a common language that cuts across office hierarchy."
The following entrepreneurs speak that tongue:
SLIPPER-Y BUSINESS
Fun doesn't have to be confetti and balloons. It can be as unconventional (and fuzzy) as the slippers worn by managers at the Quality Suites Hotel Behind Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. Owner John Ruzic, 43, saw the value in the tradition when he got into a confrontation with an employee, glimpsed the man's Scooby Doo footwear and dissolved into gales of laughter. "When two parties are wearing Tasmanian Devil or skunk slippers, there's no way they can get upset," says Ruzic. "It completely takes the anger out of the workplace."
BOOK SMART
Rather than halt fun in the name of work, Dana Brigham, co-owner of Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Massachusetts, just rolls with it. On Valentine's Day, an author signing turned into tango lessons as the also-dance instructor helped attendees get into the groove. "It's simply not a high-wage industry," Brigham, 51, says, "so we try to mitigate that as much as we can."
GIFT OF GAGS
Shazam the Juice Man (a.k.a. David Riordan), co-owner with wife Jennifer Neuguth of OOP!, an eclectic gift shop in Providence, Rhode Island, says, "Behind all the crazy hoopla and endless shenanigans is a business that maintains a very profitable bottom line." Crazy hoopla includes assigning staff members aliases like Diva and Manager of the Inner Child. The owners, both 34, also have a list of "special days" card companies can't rival. Recent ones have included "Let's Make a Deal Day," when customers showing their completed tax returns received five OOP! bucks; and the mayor's birthday, when the staff videotaped customers singing "Happy Birthday" for the ultimate gift from the people.
Book 'Em
By Debra Phillips
In The Entertainment Economy: How Mega-Media Forces Are Transforming Our Lives (Times Books, $25), Michael J. Wolfe explores the concept that all types of businesses--from restaurants to financial services--are feeling pressure to play the role of entertainer for fun-obsessed, celebrity-coveting, stimuli-seeking consumers.
The role of savvy marketer is the subject of Sam Hill and Glenn Rifkin's Radical Marketing: From Harvard to Harley, Lessons From Ten That Broke the Rules and Made It Big (Harper-Business, $25). Yes, there are a million marketing books out there, but this is one of the best. For an excerpt, see "Listen To The Band" in our June issue.
Contact Source
Brookline Booksmith, (617) 566-7539, booksmith@aol.com
Quality Suites, (800) SUNSHINE, http://www.thatparotplace.com
This story appears in the July 1999 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
