New frontiers of fun: sharing and supporting workplace fun in hybrid work
| Date | 28 June 2024 |
| Pages | 934-954 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2023-0366 |
| Published date | 28 June 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Barbara Plester,Rhiannon Lloyd |
New frontiers of fun: sharing and
supporting workplace fun in
hybrid work
Barbara Plester and Rhiannon Lloyd
Department of Management and International Business,
The University of Auckland –City Campus, Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract
Purpose –Hybrid work is changing modern conceptions of work as workers move between their office space
and alternate spaces such as a home office. Social aspects of work are therefore also changing, and this study
aims to explore the implications arising for workplace fun when workspaces become dispersed.
Design/methodology/approach –We undertook ethnographic research into two different companies to
explore in depth the concept of fun at work and how it is being adapted for hybrid work. Data were collected
through full immersion into both companies and gathered using mixed qualitative methods comprising semi-
structured interviews , participant observat ions and evidence from org anizational online pla tforms.
A structured coding system was used in the analysis with an interpretive approach.
Findings –Our themes include (1) artefacts, (2) organizing fun and space and (3) loss of fun and these provide
the underpinning for our theoretical contribution.
Research limitations/implications –We had limited access to online channels and identified opportunities
for future research to explore fun in online platforms including chat functions, meme, gifs and other places
where workplace fun may be enacted.
Practical implications –Work has changed for workers and managers, and this impacts fun which needs to
adapt to hybrid work models.
Social implications –Hybrid work is changing workplace social interactions, particularly, for fun and play.
We depict how workers navigate the changing context of work and the significance of emerging elements of
workplace fun and the implications for fun cultures.
Originality/value –Our contribution is in a re-theorization of workplace fun arguing that sharing and
supporting the creation and promotion of fun among workers at all levels offers new opportunities for
organizations that value a fun culture. Our theorization of workplace fun shows its adaptation to new hybrid
work contexts that deemphasize co-location and physical presence. We outline the significance of artefacts and
depict the variability of workplace fun in hybrid work.
Keywords Workplace fun, Hybrid work, Artefacts, Office space, Fun cultures
Paper type Research paper
Workplace fun is adapting to changes created through opportunities for workers to work
flexibly from home or other remote locations using modern technologies. While hybrid work,
which often involves some degree of working from home (WFH), predates the global
pandemic, situations such as lockdowns, restructures and commuter issues have increased
the uptake and endorsement of hybrid work models (Gonot-Schoupinsky and Garip, 2021).
Evolving ways of working are challenging managerial and employee assumptions around
where and how fun manifests. As fun increasingly moves into online work spaces (Boldi,
2022,Plester and Lloyd, 2023), our understanding of how it is both experienced and managed
must evolve to remain relevant. Using an ethnographic and interpretive research approach,
ER
46,4
934
* All names are pseudonyms.
We wish to acknowledge the work of Alexandra Venn-Brown in early stages of this paper.
We acknowledge excellent and constructive suggestions from our 3 reviewers in developing this
work.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 24 July 2023
Revised 26 February 2024
19 April 2024
29 May 2024
Accepted 30 May 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 4, 2024
pp. 934-954
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-07-2023-0366
we aim to broaden current theorizations of fun at work by deeply exploring how it is
experienced in hybrid work modes.
Interest in workplace fun has traditionally centred on the social dynamics among
employees within the confines of a physical office or similar co-locational organizational
settings (Alexandersson and Kalonaityte, 2018). Such environments are considered tangible
spaces –encompassing physical, architectural and artefactual aspects –deliberately
structured to cultivate cultures of fun and positive emotional experiences, including
enjoyment, amusement and a sense of light-heartedness (Michel et al., 2019). The prevailing
assumption has been that fun is inherently a communal, in-person experience, a concept
reinforced by Michel and colleagues through their observation that fun infuses events, office
design and corporate cultures, fostering positive affect through interactive engagements with
workplace artefacts and activities (Michel et al., 2019;Ford et al., 2003). This emphasis on the
spatial organization of workplaces has underscored a prevalent interest in “managed fun”
where organizations strategically create and sustain a fun-oriented culture as an integral
component of their corporate culture and identity.
However, the shift towards remote and hybrid work models presents new challenges in
maintaining culturally embedded values, such as fun (Arena et al., 2023). The evolution of
work practices over recent decades, with a move away from fixed offices and standard work
hours, has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a significant
increase in remote work (Felstead and Henseke, 2017;Shirmohammadi et al., 2022). This shift
challenges the conventional management of workplace fun and raises questions about the
continuity of corporate culture in environments where the physical workspace, with its
associated cultural artefacts and rituals (Schein, 1985, 2004), plays a diminished role in daily
work life. As such, the research builds on recent inquiries into the evolving management of
organizational culture in hybrid work arrangements and investigates experiences of
workplace fun within these new contexts. Thus, our research question examines modern
work contexts for fun and asks:
RQ1. Does organizational fun manifest differently when coworkers are co-located in an
office versus when working remotely?
Recent research has begun highlighting the difficulties organizations face in managing
culture and cultural cues in less tangible work settings (HBR Magazine, 2023;Arena et al.,
2023). By extending this line of research into the domain and analysis of fun at work, we aim
to examine how employee detachment from traditional office spaces impacts the
manifestation of fun and has broader implications for organizational culture in general.
Our findings highlight that while conventional forms of fun such as “managed fun”may still
have a part to play in supporting fun at work, increasingly managers wanting to develop,
continue or revitalize organizational fun in hybrid work contexts must seek to support
organic (spontaneous) and task-related forms of fun (see Plester et al., 2015).
While conventionally, managing fun utilized physical space and artefacts to orchestrate
and communicate a homogeneous fun culture, organizations are likely to experience smaller
online communities engaging in new forms of fun and entertainment, thus shifting the control
away from managers and towards employees. We note this shift in the origins of fun
activities as they move fro m being managerially in itiated to employee-dri ven and
orchestrated or created from a keyboard at home, in-person in the office or online from
within the office or another unspecified location. We recommend that organizations embrace
new forms of fun that may be both online and in-person or a blend of both, as a means to
encourage the development of fun values in more hybrid environments. Ultimately, fun in
hybrid work requires organizations to recognize the value of diverse, micro-community-
driven expressions of enjoyment in the workplace. This means supporting the creation of
online workspaces through which organic fun can manifest in ways that make it less visible
Employee
Relations: The
International
Journal
935
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