Written for EO by Heidi Reimer-Epp, CEO and co-founder of Botanical PaperWorks 

Maybe it was because it was winter. Or maybe it was because we’d recently lost a valued employee due to our organization being a little boring. Regardless of the reason, I knew we needed a way to make our workplace fun. I understood that I was risking losing other employees and decreasing productivity if we didn’t inject some energy and camaraderie into the office. As Stuart Brown, the author of Play, puts it, “when employees have the opportunity to play, they actually increase their productivity, engagement and morale.”

That’s when I reached out to Kirsten Anderson, founder and CEO of Integrate Play Solutions.

Kirsten’s first assignment for me was to keep my eyes peeled for even the smallest opportunities to bring playfulness to work and assured me that the fun would follow. The holidays were coming up, so my team and I decided to have a Deck the Walls party. We brought in tons of decorations and, with hot chocolate in tow, everyone decked out their work spaces. It was incredible to see everyone’s creativity. We got into the holiday spirit, we laughed and we enjoyed ourselves. Fun? Check!