One of Koné Consulting’s main tenets is fun. We work hard and play hard (more on the latter in a couple of weeks). It’s especially important our clients experience joy while we work together – so much so we’ve included it in our purpose statement.

Being in the business of change, we recognize not everyone in an organization is “joyful” when they hear the news that a consultant has been hired to assess, facilitate, coach or train them. Continuous improvement is hard work, and in our experience when clients are free to trust the process – and have fun – they are empowered to unlock creative solutions and are energized to carry on the work long after our work together is done.

Are we having fun yet?

Humans are social beings, so the context for a lot of the fun activities we engage in is to gather in groups - the more the merry, right? Not so during a pandemic, it turns out. As organizations shift to virtual work environments and social distancing, we’re seeing the need for more engaging practices for online meetings. Can you identify with Zoom fatigue, the malaise that results from the focus required to engage meaningfully with a video screen all day long!?

Do you like my hat?

Recently we conducted a half-day workshop with our good friend Nancy White for a client we’ve been working with at the University of Washington since before the pandemic. We originally planned to host an in-person workshop but pivoted to Zoom when it seemed inevitable we would not be gathering in-person anytime soon. The workshop focused on using good communication skills and tools like “Heard, Seen, Respected,” “Helping Heuristics,” and tips for giving and receiving feedback with colleagues. We used an adapted version of P.D. Eastman’s beloved children’s book Go Dog Go to illustrate a point about feedback. Our super crafty and creative team member Erika made some amazing hat props to bring the joy into the moment. Please enjoy the photo of our distinguished (…?) leader Alicia playing the part of the French Poodle.

What the data says (we’re self-proclaimed data nerds):

Next time you are tempted to poo poo your colleague’s suggestion to have a virtual happy hour, or grumpily ignore a compadre’s festive video call background thinking, “we ain’t got time for that,” remember these facts:

· Companies with happy employees outperform the competition by 20%

· Happy employees are 12% more productive

· Close work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50%

· Employees happy at work take fewer sick days than unhappy employees

What are you doing to have fun at work today?

Koné Consulting
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS INSPIRING CHANGE
AND LASTING IMPROVEMENTS

Go Dog, GO!