Workplace trust plays a huge role in the overall health of your organization. But many don’t know how to go about building trust in the workplace.
At Clean Comedians®, we’re prepared to help you not only define trust amidst your company culture. We’re also here to bring a little magic to your organization as well.
Below, we’ve mapped out 7 trust-building benefits that corporate magic can offer your workplace. Because trust in the workplace is the very foundation that will lead to greater success down the line.
See Related: Where To Find Funny Keynote Speakers For Your Next Event
Key Takeaways
A lack of workplace trust can lead to any number of negative consequences. But hiring a comedian or corporate magician can teach you how to build trust in the workplace as:
- Corporate entertainers must immediately build trust with their audience
- Entertainment can boost employee engagement in the workplace
- Magic may teach employees to build trust amongst themselves as a team
- A magician challenges employees to listen closely to the rules of the magic trick
- Entertainment levels the playing field between employees and their boss
- Magic encourages employees to possess the power of play
- Shared entertainment experiences may strike up unlikely alliances
#1. A corporate magician must build trust with their audience
Building trust in a professional relationship takes time and effort. But corporate entertainers, on the other hand, have to build trust immediately with their audience.
So, who better to learn about trust in the workplace than from a corporate entertainer?
Building trust in the workplace takes time, but a corporate magician offers you a crash course
Every room a corporate entertainer or magician speaker is different. They have to immediately get a sense of the atmosphere, paying close attention to the details.
This is what can be considered “emotional trust” in the workplace. This type of trust has more to do with reading between the lines than accomplishing a task in a reasonable manner.
So, how do corporate entertainers do this? And how can these habits be factored into your workplace to develop employee trust?
A corporate magician teaches employees to notice body language, eye contact, and other indicators of emotional intelligence
Body language is a key factor in building trust and mutual respect in the workplace. When your employees see that corporate entertainer walk in, they’ll likely see a magician with a straight posture and open arms to demonstrate their professionalism and openness.
Employees can similarly adopt such habits to build trust in the workplace. But even if they don’t do so intentionally, spending time with a magician speaker will already open them up in ways they once thought unimaginable.
#2. Corporate entertainment can improve employee engagement
Trust creates a workplace where employees are automatically engaged. Namely, because they know that they are valued just like every other member of the team.
A great way to show your organization just how much you appreciate them is through corporate entertainment. After all, they’ve been working hard to keep the organization running – it’s time to have a chance to put their feet up!
What other organization do you know that hires entertainment for the sake of its employees?
No, really. Can you think of any other organization that would do that? Odds are, you can’t think of many.
And that’s the problem. Too many organizations think that corporate entertainment isn’t worthwhile. But it’s a way to give back to the employees at your organization.
When employee morale is low from a particularly stressful quarter, it’s important to remind employees why they enjoy working at your organization in the first place. The answer should be: because you treat them well.
Allow a corporate magician to help you remind them of that.
Offering a team a chance to bond makes every team member feel valued
Trust in the workplace is a spectrum. It ranges from being tasked with top-priority responsibilities to being included in a personal conversation in the breakroom.
Every little thing you can do to make the employee experience enjoyable is another building block of trust you get to add to the foundation of your workplace. Giving employees the chance to sit back and enjoy a corporate magic show is one such way to build trust.
Because you are recognizing that everyone at your organization is human. And sometimes, humans need a break.
Making this a collective experience can make employees feel like the team is all in this together. Whether or not they jump up to the choreographed version of the High School Musical number is not guaranteed, but we won’t rule it out completely.
#3. Magic can encourage employees to build trust amongst each other
Every corporate magician is different. And some may pose certain magic tricks that require a team of people to either accomplish or resolve.
This is the perfect team-building exercise to employ in the workplace, especially where new employees are concerned.
Performing certain tricks may require a team effort to solve or untangle
Let’s say the performance metrics at your organization have been less than sensational. Seems like the team may need a chance to reset their collective brain in a fun, low-stress manner.
Magic tricks offer exactly that. A corporate magician may require an employee or two to assist them during their magical stunt.
And while it may seem small, such participation can build trust amongst the employees involved. After all, they’re the ones being asked to stand up in front of everyone to help out with who knows what!
These team-building skills can be transferred to their professional relationships
When you build trust in a low-stakes environment, that trust-building can still transfer to employees’ professional lives. Employees need to know that they can depend on one another even during a low-stakes workplace situation.
Then, once the bigger responsibilities start to pile up, they can draw upon those former trust-building exercises. This isn’t to say that your employees will automatically become best friends, sharing a few things about their personal lives or carrying out personal relationships in the workplace.
Rather, this kind of trust in the workplace teaches employees that they can depend on each other at times when it really matters. This sense of security can similarly boost employee morale, and job satisfaction, and may even improve employee retention.
Bonus: How To Become A Professional Juggler
#4. A magician teaches employees how to listen actively
Most people forget that a large part of trust in a team comes from being able to listen to one another. Actively listening to your colleagues not only shows other team members that you respect them.
But it engages the team member listening to be on their A-game.
Getting everyone on the same page for a magic trick builds team morale
During a magic trick, a corporate magician will likely set out a couple of rules to begin. They may show their deck of cards, reveal certain limitations to the illusion, or otherwise.
What matters is that employees listen to what the magician is saying. The information they’re putting out will be important for the trick about to be performed.
This type of listening can teach employees how to engage with one another outside of a corporate entertainment show. With every employee showing respect for other employees, your organization will be unstoppable.
It also fosters mutual respect amongst colleagues, improving their sense of psychological safety
Another big aspect of trust in the workplace has to do with the notion of safety. Employees like to feel secure in their workplace surroundings, both physically and mentally.
For instance, when one employee continually interrupts another person on the team, that person may feel unsafe sharing their ideas. Namely, because they anticipate being cut off.
But, when employees know how to listen to one another, they develop a greater respect for one another. This respect has much to do with employee retention as well as employees’ sense of security within the organization as a whole.
#5. Corporate entertainment builds a connection between employees and their boss
In certain workplaces, hierarchies need to be maintained. But in order to build trust, those hierarchies may need to be adjusted from time to time.
An entertainer outside the organization situates everyone on the same playing field
When a corporate entertainer walks into the workplace, they’re meeting your employees for the first time. They are assessing the situation with fresh eyes, essentially leveling the playing field.
This type of experience is important for employees when it comes to building trust with their supervisors. Because when the relationship is always in favor of the superior, employees may feel off-kilter (sometimes, literally).
But an entertainer views every audience member as the same. This simple shift in perspective can help nurture a stronger bond between employees and their managers.
Such activities can lead to open communication between a team and their supervisor
We’re not saying that workplace hierarchies ought to be abandoned altogether. But an organization that invests in moments of corporate entertainment understands the need for those walls to come down from time to time.
After the fact, managers may decide to create an open door policy, welcoming employees in just as the corporate entertainer taught them to. This kind of respect can greatly alter the atmosphere in an office for the better.
All entertainers have a single purpose: to touch the lives of the audience members in either a big or small way. That connection is something you can take forward with your company.
#6. Magic incorporates the power of play into your company culture
Besides an open door policy, magic itself can inspire other brave new changes in the workplace. Namely, how employees approach different assignments and inevitable hardships and obstacles.
A sense of play can help employees feel secure and even allow them to admit mistakes
Magic is inherently funny and playful. So it only makes sense that some of that magic rubs off on the employees who enjoyed such entertainment.
Bringing that sense of play and fun into the workplace is an excellent way to build trust. Not only amongst the team members but within team members as well.
Sometimes, trust in the workplace becomes an internal struggle. People tend to doubt their instincts over time or feel like their ideas offer no substantial value.
But fun and playfulness remind them that the work is here to inspire and innovate. Once employees shift their perspective, they can approach any obstacle with ease as they creatively work to resolve the situation.
Playfulness can even help to build accountability amongst team members
Innovation in the workplace comes with a greater sense of trust. But it also comes with its own need for accountability.
Mistakes happen in every industry. But like an entertainer, that mistake cannot derail the whole show. The show must go on.
As a result, greater accountability can actually boost trust in the workplace. Because everyone knows that they are responsible for their actions and ready to take on the consequences.
#7. A magician speaker can build relationships between unlikely co-workers
There’s no question that bringing in a corporate magician speaker is not entirely common. But that’s exactly why you should do it!
No one will be expecting to sit through a magic show when they enter the office. And that unexpectedly fun scenarios can make for some unexpected friendships.
Honest conversations can emerge after a shared experience like a magic show
After experiencing a magic show, it’s hard not to talk about it with fellow attendees. After all, what you just witnessed supposedly went against the laws of physics – but it happened before your very eyes!
The dazzling experience alone can lead to more conversations in the workplace. That post-show excitement and rush of endorphins isn’t a standstill – it’s leading to the next best thing.
You may find employees trust one another better after a trust-building experience like magic
While you may not get a resounding cheer from every employee in the room, just know that they’ll be changed after the experience. The respect, communication, and trust that’s required in magic will inevitably leak through to your team’s efforts.
Not only will this make them better employees. It will make them better colleagues to one another.
The bottom line
Go ahead and take a look at the corporate magicians we have here at Clean Comedians®. That way, you can see the results for yourself!
Keep Reading: What Are The Different Types Of Magicians?
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Adam Christing is a professional comedy magician, virtual MC, and the founder of CleanComedians.com. He is a member of the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and a popular corporate entertainer, magician, and virtual speaker.