A senior executive at a technology company told me this story. He was recently at an alumni gathering for folks who worked at a high flying internet conglomerate. When asked how it was, he replied, "Well there were two types of people there. The first type was unemployed and miserable. The second type was employed and miserable."
That about sums up what most sales environments are like today - stiff and morose. Yes I know it's hard to have fun when numbers are down and human resources gets involved in every minor behavior malfunction.  But who wants to work at a place that takes itself too seriously?
 
Sales leaders need to bring fun back in the workplace. I mean spontaneous, self-deprecating fun, not structured outings where people are instructed to "bond". It is possible to have a high performing environment that allows people to have a laugh or two. Here are a few examples....
 
-      A senior executive at a multi-billion dollar company likes to mess with people's heads on the weekly revenue pipeline conference call. He has downloaded sound effects (someone hitting golf balls, dog barking, wild party, etc) on his laptop and plays them at critical times in the call - usually when the CEO is speaking. Because people are dialing in from all over the country, it is assumed that one of the call participants is in a non-work related environment and forgot to mute their phone.  People on the call start to mutter about lack of professionalism and speculate who is not where they should be. Only a select few people know about this prank and look forward to the weekly call.

-      A prima donna, self-centered sales person is the unknown target of a few of his peers. This 60 person sales team sits in desk high cubes and the entire floor is visible. Every time the prima donna steps away from his desk, a peer will dial his extension.  Upon hearing his extension ring, the prima donna races back to his desk only to find the caller has hung up. Convinced that he is missing calls from key customers (or women who want to date him), the prima donna is now afraid to go to the bathroom.

Who has other examples of ways to put some fun back in the sales environment????