Playtime At The Office is Big Business
When was the last time you played? Maybe if you have kids, it’s an easier question to answer. For most adults, ‘having fun’ is not on our to-do list. While we might find time to unwind on the weekend, we don’t directly equate ‘fun’ with ‘play’ and it can seem downright impossible to imagine acting playful at work. But that mindset is changing as the workforce becomes more Gen Z and Millennial than Boomer.
A slew of new research and a number of up-and-coming startups think we should play a whole lot more. Research shows we learn better when a task is fun, and approaching even the most mundane task with a playful mindset can profoundly improve our productivity. Experts suggest that a 'playtime' approach to problem solving stimulates our imagination, helping us find solutions better and quicker.
For many of us over 30, the idea of being playful at work conjures images of uncomfortable team-building games or banal holiday parties dominated by awkward banter. While many offices installed ping-pong tables and cool snacks to improve company culture pre-pandemic, startups like Marco, Confetti, and Thriver took advantage of the sudden need for virtual team-building in 2020 to curate diverse rosters of events, classes, and experiences that are anything but banal.
Marco bills itself as a cool tech savvy startup serving its own kind, from mid-week workplace going away parties, to team celebrations and company retreats, they aim to speak directly to companies that want to improve their culture-building through trendy events and in-the-moment themed play.
Jenn Cornelius, CPO at Ritual, shares on their website that, “Marco has become my go-to partner for curated, thoughtful, and fun team experiences that keep our distributed organization connected and inspired.”
Confetti and Thriver have cornered the remote team market with classes and shippable kits delivered directly to dispersed team members. As they confront an evolving hybrid economy, team-building companies like these are diversifying their offerings, with a roster of virtual and in-person offerings to suit the needs of their customers. As Joe, a remote worker from Minneapolis shared, “who knew I loved doing paint-by-numbers? But honestly, it felt way less awkward painting with my colleagues from the comfort of my own home.”
Playful employees are expensive. According to preliminary findings of the Incentive Federation's Incentive Marketplace Estimate Research Study, U.S. businesses spend $176 billion per year to motivate and recognize their employees, with small to midsize companies spending an average of $14,813 per month on office snacks and beverages alone. And a typical budget for a 200-person retreat? The average is $600,000 to $700,000, or $3,000 to $3,500 a head. Some companies spend much more.
As the economy fluctuates in the coming years, it remains to be seen whether companies will continue to invest as readily in team-building. Will these startups pivot to the market and diversify their offerings as hybrid work evolves, or have they found a niche that continues to offer growth opportunities? Either way, as play becomes a ubiquitous incentive, it will be hard to remove entirely.