The employees of Dunder Mifflin find themselves in silly yet wholesome situations throughout the mockumentary The Office. This popular, long-standing television series takes place in a fictionalized, mid-sized firm within the paper industry. Much like typical office characters, but with a splash of exaggeration, the workers and managers find themselves in scenarios that deliver comedy and more than a few real-life lessons to learn.
Treat Workers Like Family
The natural and fair treatment of workers is what distinguishes great leaders from good ones. Employees who are managed with respect and transparency will, in turn, come to trust their team leaders and be motivated to perform well. Despite all the conflicts arising in and out of this Scranton, PA office, the employees show up for each other when needed.
Celebrate Diversity
It’s good to recognize diversity, but avoid tattooing a person’s ethnicity or nationality on your forehead. Don’t attempt to include it in a joke or to mimic it in reality, even if it seems harmless or illustrates a point about stereotypes. Instead, encourage diversity by developing rules inclusive of variety, and resist the urge to recruit someone simply because they are different from the rest of the team. The other caveat is not to pretend diversity doesn’t exist and act color-blind to peoples’ unique qualities.
Work Hard, Play Hard
You can combine work and leisure; it’s not all serious labor. Every workplace has at least one practical joker. They can liven up the monotonous business environment if you’re receptive to their humor. If you often find yourself at odds with the prankster, but their humor is harmless fun, loosen up and join in.
Reward Efforts
In order to improve employee engagement at work, it is critical to acknowledge employee efforts. If you decide to hand out intentionally humorous awards, be kind.
Provide Learning Opportunities
Although active learning is more effective than passive learning, you should never start anything risky only to make a point. The most outstanding teacher is experienced, but there are better methods to teach fire safety than setting a fire. Allow staff to get first-hand experience with activities, including decision-making, customer interactions, etc. They will learn more and have a more significant experience if they do it that way.
Teamwork is Key
Many collaborative efforts demonstrate the value of team development. Employees connect through these all-encompassing events, which often improves their job. When one person succeeds at a company, it carries over to office-wide success.