The term “Business Analysis” sounds about as fun as reading a mobile app’s terms and conditions while waiting in line at the DMV and listening to AM radio. But just because it sounds boring doesn’t mean that it must be. In fact, it can even make us better at our jobs. Let’s do some fun-alysis…wait, no that sounds stupid. Just continue reading…. it’s a fun post despite that remark.

Play at work increases creativity, connectedness and improves learning comprehension. If that is all true, why don’t we have more fun at work? We talked with Jamie Champagne in our most recent episode of Analysts After Dark to find out how business analysts could use fun to be more impactful in the office. Before we share what BAs can do to have fun, let’s do some root cause analysis on the effect play has on our brains and why this approach is so effective.

When we are stressed out, overwhelmed, or simply attempting to solve a frustrating problem our brain engages our acute stress response. This is more commonly known as the “fight or flight” response. It identifies the stressors as a threat, heightening our cortisol levels, narrowing our focus, and shutting down non-crucial body functions. Prolonged exposure to stress can cause heart conditions, weight gain, hair loss, and even lower your immune system. Luckily, as business analysts, we have the job equivalent of lying in a hammock on the beach, right?   

Conversely, when we are playing, laughing, or generally having fun our fight or flight response is subdued. Since our brain feels like it is in a safe place, it encourages opportunities for exploration, creativity, and innovation. In these play states, we often become more collaborative and more connected. Conducted consistently this type of engagement can even help to reduce feelings of burnout.

Now that you know why having fun at work works, here are 5 ways to ensure that stakeholders think you conduct the most engaging, effective, and perhaps even enjoyable meetings in the company.  

Brainstorming? More like DRAINstorming!

Brainstorming sessions don’t have to be tedious, cricket-inducing bore-a-thons. For in-person sessions try adding some physicality to them by making them a timed race. Have people pair off and generate as many ideas as possible but mandate that they post each idea on a board across the room, individually. You may want to include a quick stretching session first, so no one pulls a hamstring. “Were you in a dunking contest?” ….uh no, brainstorming session at work.

For distributed teams, add some levity to your sessions to get people laughing. Ask them to pretend the project is complete then write down as many of the most ridiculous customer complaints as possible. Test their creativity and ask them to come up with the worst marketing slogans for the project. Lastly, if you have an open team have the team generate all the reasons why the project is doomed to fail from the start. It may seem silly, but it allows stakeholders to see the project from different perspectives.

Warmups versus Icebreakers

No one likes icebreakers. Seriously, no one. They’re awkward, take too long and you always end up learning an incredibly specific, cringe-inducing factoid about a coworker that you wish you could forget. “Haha….no Stephanie it’s not that weird at all!” [Siri, remind me to tell my therapist about this session later]

Warmups (and no we don’t mean calisthenics. Unless you’re doing the brainstorming race, then yes, we do.) are activities that get the team to collaborate in a way that corresponds to the session you are delivering. For example, the I Expect activity asks participants to share what they expect to get out of the session. This engages the entire group but also gets the group comfortable with sharing ideas and tells you as the facilitator what each person values most. Jamie Champagne suggests warmups be the first part of facilitating your session to effortlessly direct your audience into the rest of the content.

The session shall be Gamified

Are your meetings going to be more addictive than Candy Crush, Geometry Dash or [insert latest mobile game here]? Probably not. That doesn’t mean you can’t build in some games to play while you are facilitating to keep your stakeholders engaged. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Acronym Shaming Solution (ASS) – Save space on the board to track each time someone uses an acronym without defining it. Make the offender stand or sit in a special seat for 1 minute as punishment.
• Buzzword Bingo – Use a tool like My Free Bingo Cards to ensure that you leverage the synergy and grab the low-hanging fruit all without boiling the ocean.    
• Cards Against Analysis – Create your own BA related scenarios to mix & match ideas to prompts. Depending on the career-limiting level of risqué-ness you chose, it could be a quick game!
• Devil’s Advocate – Take specific requirements and counter the functionality. Horns and a plastic pitchfork help sell the concept.

Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt

Regardless of your belief in the Easter Bunny (just know that he believes in you), finding Easter eggs in requirements tickles the reward centers of the brain. Engage your audience by intentionally adding a few typos to your presentations or dropping funny one-liners into documentation to add to the reader’s enjoyment.

Clue the audience in on the game beforehand. Consider distributing a piece of chocolate for each one they found or designing a humorous certificate to share amongst the group for the person that found the most errors.

Know Your Team Generator

If you haven’t yet created your own hyper-specific meme with context that only you and 6 other people understand, you haven’t spent enough time on the internet. Memes can be a great way of expressing ideas in a simple but devastatingly hilarious way.

Science still hasn’t uncovered what it is about adding snarky commentary to a still image that is so cathartic, they just know it works. Consider having your team create memes about the project, the meeting, or even each other if the team is close enough. The requirements of the game should be that the meme has to be used correctly based on context and the goal is to make everyone laugh.

It’s often surprising to see who amongst the team has a dark sense of humor or how witty the shy person that never speaks up is. Just remember to encourage the team to not take this exercise too seriously.

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This is Analysts After Dark encouraging you to stay curious and stay positive!