Fun Works: Creating Places Where People Love to Work (Paperback)

by Leslie Yerkes (Author) "Anyone who's worked with contractors on a building project has a story; usually its..." (more)
Key Phrases: good people and get out, integrating fun, fun styles, Pike Place Fish, American Skandia, Southwest Airlines (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
* Shows how to create an organizational culture that is fun and productive; create and sustain motivation; and retain your best employees

* Examples and case studies from real-life companies — including Pike Place Fish and Southwest Airlines — illustrate the principles of Work/Fun Fusion

Fun Works presents real-life case studies and interviews with dozens of leading authors, companies and individuals that illustrate eleven important principles for creating a fun—and productive and profitable—workplace. Fun Works provides tips, resources, examples, and motivation to make it easy and fun to unleash the power of fun in yourself, your coworkers, and your customers! ‘Gurus of Fun’—authors and experts—offer their spin on each principle. Lest you say, "That’s all well and good but will it work in my industry?" Fun Works shares the voices of individuals, diverse in their backgrounds and professions, who express how work and fun merge for them. An inventory of behaviors will give you concrete indicators of how well you have integrated fun into your work experience.

About the Author
Leslie Yerkes is President of Catalyst Consulting Group, a change management consulting firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. She is coauthor of the bestselling book 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (June 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576751546
• ISBN-13: 978-1576751541
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #612,315 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Works: Creating Places Where People Love to Work, November 2, 2001

By	Jim Harter/TallySoft (Houston, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This is an easy read but it by no means is the fluff that you find in so many of these types of books. Many books on this subject are simply a collection of stories that illustrate random examples where others have brought fun into the workplace.

This book goes deeper. It provides the "Why" as well as the "How" and not just the "What". The book is divided into principles that you can apply to your business that actually work. You decide the outcome you want based on the principle you want to implement and do it. You tailor it to your specific business environment.

In other words, this book can actually help your business!!!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Works Does, June 4, 2001

By	Joseph Murphy (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This new book from Leslie Yerkes uses a case study format to emphasizes key principles of why having fun at work makes business sense. I like how the book is divided into two main sections, one holds rich and thoughtful case studies and the other, tools and actions to help foster the principles of Fun in your workplace. You can read it like a reference book by using the Table of Contents to find what may be of interest to you. This is good user-friendly design.

In each case, a business is highlighted that provides living proof of both the existence and value of a Fun Works principle. I found these examples to be real and full of ideas to build upon. Companies large and small, from coast to coast provide the framework that shouts, Fun enhances the capability of your organization. People feel more compelled to bring their strengths into the workplace when they are allowed and encouraged to express themselves.

Going beyond corporate success stories, Yerkes has captured and shared simple experiments to try, and suggestions to implement that may help you take fun to a new level in your organization. Being able to find and create fun on-the-job seems to make the day feel less like work and more like an adventure.

I recommend the book as a source of inspiration and a resource for benchmarking practices and principles that can unleash creativity and impact employee retention.

Joseph P. Murphy, Senior Consultant SHL

Chairperson, NorthCoast Employment Management Association (EMA)

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Works: Creating Places Where People Love to Work, June 1, 2001

By	Bill Wilkins (Westlake, OH (USA)) - See all my reviews

Why do employees in top performing organizations always seem to enjoy their work? In her second book Fun Works: Creating Places Where People Love to Work, Leslie Yerkes lays out 11 principles for creating a Fun/Work Fusion in the workplace. She then examines 11 companies, including Southwest Airlines and Harvard University Dining Services, that have successfully applied these principles to merge fun and work. Leslie offers the keys for unlocking each of the 11 principles for making companies happier and healthier. The book includes a Fun/Work Fusion Inventory of behaviors for measuring the extent to which fun has been allowed to enter any workplace. This easy to read book is loaded with nuggets of information designed to help any organization become a more enjoyable, productive and profitable place to work.