Playful Work Design: Integrating Play

Abstract

Play stands as a timeless and profoundly important aspect of human existence. Throughout history, play has captivated people. Yet, managers have long shunned play from the workplace because they saw it as an illicit and subversive act of dissent and rebellion. In this presentation, I will challenge this viewpoint. At work, we face a wide range of activities. We deal with deadlines, large projects, meetings, emotionally demanding tasks, and conflicts that arise. We often take the work activities as “given”. Sometimes, we forget that we possess the power to reinvent ourselves and our work. In this lecture, we discuss the fundamentals that define play and playfulness and explore how and when the proactive integration of play with work activities, i.e., playful work design, can benefit individuals and organizations by promoting work engagement and performance outcomes. Finally, we touch upon on research and examples from practice on how to stimulate playful work design by employees. By attending, you will learn about: 1. What play constitutes and the different forms of play. 2. Why and when playful work design facilitates work engagement and performance. 3. Opportunities for playful work design. 4. Advocating for playful work design.