boring memo

Admit it:  your memos are boring.  And because they can barely stay away through an entire memo, you aren’t getting your message across.   They aren’t listening.

I have a million ideas about adding levity and humor to your workplace communications, but very few of them are as easy as this one:  Baby Mail.   Got something important to say?  Want them to actually listen?   Try communicating it with BabyMail.  I love this communication tool for a bunch of reasons.

• They will actually listen to it.  Carefully.
• They will end up sharing it w/ their teammates and talking about it.   (Do they do this with YOUR memos.)
• It demonstrates that you have a personality and sense of humor — even if you don’t.
• It forces you to communicate your message in 20 seconds.  Come on…you can do it.  That’s all they have time for anyway.

Here’s a sample:

Brad On Baby Mail

Looking for a motivational speaker for your event — and don’t feel like hiring a baby would be appropriate? Contact me here.

Brad Montgomery

Motivational Speaker, Funny Humorist, Humor in the Workplace Keynotes, Fan of Baby Mail

Mobile Post: Posted on-the-go by Brad Montgomery from his iPhone.

Check out this very cool article about clowns teaching nurses how to use levity and humor at work and with their patients.

NYC – Teaching Nurses the Value of Big, Red Noses – NYTimes.com.

Perhaps students were wondering, “How can you be light-hearted in a serious profession like this?” Mr. Christensen said. In fact, he said, “you can carry your sense of joy and light into the workplace.” Nurses need their spirits to be high. For sure, patients do.

If you are interested in the use of humor with health care, as I am, you should check out this article.

The science is becoming clearer every day: happy people are healthier, are more engaged, more creative and more productive. Whether you’re in a traditional high stress job like nursing and health care, or even a supposed lower stress job (Is there one? Tell me…we all want it!) invest the time in learning to take yourself less seriously.

Need a professional funny motivational speaker to help you find the levity through a funny keynote speech? Go to the contact page now.

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Heath Care Speaker, Humor in the Workplace Expert, Fan of Levity!

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Holy Moly.  Even I can’t believe I’m writing more about how Southwest Airlines uses humor, levity and lightheartedness to improve their bottom line.  I know it.  And you know it.  Humor + work = improved bottom line.

What amazes me is how United Airlines and the other struggling airlines are the only ones NOT learning from Southwest.

Corporate espionage would never be so easy:  United should put a single employee on a Southwest flight, have them notice how the fun attitude of the employees translates to customer satisfaction, and then…. copy them!   No cloak and daggers needed.   It’s not even stealing.  It’s just common sense.

I was just on an United flight and was chatting with a flight attendant about the safety announcements, and whether she thought humor was appropriate.  I’m not at all sure what the “official” policy is, but her understanding of it is that fun is NOT encouraged… or allowed.  And she shared some anecdotal evidence about her UAL peers getting chewed out for trying to make the safety demonstration fun.   Hmmph.   Oh, and guess how her morale was?   Yeah, lousy.

She is a nice woman, but her loyalty to her employer and her customers ends at her paycheck.

I live in Colorado… and as it is a hub for United I fly them a lot.  An awful lot.  An AWFUL lot.  I’m stuck with them.   But I don’t like them.   It’s clear to me that their employee morale is rock bottom.   They are worried for their jobs and future.  They don’t feel like the carrier is on their side.  And their employee dissatisfaction comes through loud and clear to folks like me.  Their customers.  I have dozens of stories about how United could have easily earned my loyalty but instead made my life harder. It’s too bad.  Especially because it doesn’t have to be that way.

They need — to be frank — me.   Bad.  Really bad.  But they’ll never hire me to talk to their staff with ideas about how to connect enjoyment of their jobs to creating an outstanding airline.    They haven’t noticed that the ONLY thing that sets them apart from their competitors is their people.  And their people are unhappy.  Very unhappy.   Just ask that flight attendent.

I don’t hold out much hope for United Airlines.  But maybe it isn’t too late for your organization.

Does YOUR company need to invest in your people’s quality of (work) life?  Do you agree that NOW is the time to make sure they are at their best, because you simply cannot afford a staff that isn’t fully on board?

[Hey United Airlines! Honestly, you need to hire me, like, yesterday.   Give me a buzz and I'll help your folks which will help you.  Guaranteed.   Come on, I dare you!]

Go to the contact page and let’s talk about how to ramp up your groups attitudes and loyalty, and how that will create a great impact on your bottom line.

Now, for a contrast… check out what the wacky and  successful Southwest Airlines is doing on board with their customers. Do these customers look happier than those you’ve seen on any UAL flight recently. You betcha. That, my friends, is what you call “a hint.”

Do you need to ramp up the attitude in your organization? You don’t even need to sing.  Contact us now! Go to the contact page.

Do me a favor? If you liked this article, Digg it for me right here:

Digg it!

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Humor in the Workplace Expert, Funny-ist

Related:
Brad’s Take on the Pike’s Place Fish Market
Hooked on Humor Audio Subscription Program
Laugh-O-Nomics: Brad’s Motivational Humor in the Workplace Breakout Seminar

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Hap-py New Year and welcome to the second edition of the “Humor in the Workplace” Blog Carnival! Better late than never, right?

To satisfy your insatiable need for humorous anectdotes, I’ve opened the floodgates and scoured the web. As result, not everyone is technically aware that they’re participating in this edition but as soon as they find out, I’m certain that they’ll be flattered, overjoyed and innundating me with posts for future editions.

Without futher ado, may I present “Humor in the Workplace” resolution style. ‘Cuz that’s how we roll!

1. I resolve to put work in it’s proper perspective (Sandee
contributed this short and clever parable about the wisdom of NOT
working hard):

The Fisherman

2. I resolve to find a low-stress job:

Got Stress
(Bob Goldman rates a few professions based on the level of stress. Guess what? I win!!)

3. I resolve to follow these guidelines for all holiday work functions (Cyde Fahlman offers tips to avoid holiday stress but really, they’re year ’round effective!):

Holiday Stress

4. I resolve to bring joy and levity to my work environment on a regular basis:

10 Things To Do To A Co-Workers Desk

(Thanks, Mike! These practical jokes are pretty funny!)

5. I resolve to polish my interview skills……just in case! (Chris shares his interview experiences with us. I feel bad for Chris. Really. I do.):

Why I Fail Interviews

6. I resolve to keep in mind these all-important tips when participating in meetings (Madeleine Begun Kane gives us the skinny on how to effectively [ha,ha] communicate in meetings):

Those Unspeakable Meetings

7. I resolve to not try so hard to be funny (John Kinde lets the secret out of the bag on successful humor):

Be Funny By Doing Less

>>>>>>>

Thanks to all of our bloggers for submitting to the carnival. We’ll do it again in about one month. If you are interested in submitting to our next carnival, contact us here or by emailing kirstie “at” bradmontgomery.com

>>>>>>>

After much anticipation, the long-awaited first edition of the “Humor in the Workplace” Blog Carnival has arrived!! Response for this first edition was pretty awesome so thanks are due to all who submitted. Now, I’ll preface this edition to state that humor is in the eye of the beholder – or reader in this case. ‘Nuff said.

Getting a jump start on the holiday season, this edition’s participators will be introduced to the tune of “Twelve Days of Christmas“. Yes, I know………you’ll be humming that song for the rest of the day. It’s not like you won’t hear it in every store you enter from now until December 25th so I may as well get the ball rolling! Without further ado………..

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
A contract for Christmas Parties

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
One office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties. (one, two, three)

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
One clepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
One clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Online gaming insight, one clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Flight attendant training, online gaming insight, one clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Work-at-home-mom dress codes, flight attendant training, online gaming insight, one clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Computer rules for dummies, work-at-home-mom dress codes, flight attendant training, online gaming insight, one clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Two hiring handbooks, computer rules for dummies, work-at-home-mom dress codes, flight attendant training, online gaming insight, one clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties (one, two).

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Tips to handle “humor”, two hiring handbooks, computer rules for dummies, work-at-home-mom dress codes, flight attendant training, online gaming insight, one clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Advice for lazy students, tips to handle “humor”, two hiring handbooks, computer rules for dummies, work-at-home-mom dress codes, flight attendant training, online gaming insight, one clever bee! One klepto granny, three angry workers, one office prank and a contract for Christmas parties!

>>>>>

Thanks to all of our bloggers for submitting to the carnival. We’ll do it again in about one month. If you are interested in submitting to our next carnival, contact us here or by emailing kirstie “at” bradmontgomery.com

>>>>>
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Welcome to the “Humor in the Workplace” Blog Carnival! I’ll be your Ringmaster and each month I’ll direct your attention to various rings, where you’ll read the latest experiences, stories, ideas, tricks and wisdom relating to Humor in the Workplace.

What is “Humor in the Workplace”? No, I’m not talking about the time your colleague fell asleep at his desk and went to the staff meeting with keyboard impressions on his face……..though that is funny – post it and we’ll put it in. I’m looking for the latest blog posts about:

• Office Humor. What you’ve seen or experienced AND how that experience has effected your work culture;
• Office Pranks and Gags. What you’ve seen or experienced, and what the effect is on your work culture;
• Techniques and ideas for those wanting to incorporate more humor at work;
• Examples of the worst possible work culture and how that culture needs a sense of humor;
• Anything else you think is related to Humor in the Workplace. If you are able to connect fun and work, it will be considered for this Carnival.
• Examples of humor with management and leadership in the office setting.

What is a Blog Carnival? As defined by Wikipedia, “A blog carnival is a type of blog event. It is similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains permalinks to other blog articles on the particular topic.

Blog carnivals are a great way for bloggers to recognize each other’s efforts, organize blog posts around important topics, and improve the overall level of conversation in the blogosphere. They also serve as a place to connect with those who are expert (or at least highly opinionated!) and those who are interested in that field.

Why participate in a blog carnival? Simple.

First of all, it’s cool to have a single clearinghouse for related articles about Humor in the Workplace. And this carnival will help others find you. In addition, you’ll get backlinks (incoming links to your blog). The more backlinks your blog has, the higher rating in search engines. Plus it’s just fun!

How to participate? Submit your posts by clicking here or via the “Humor in the Workplace Blog Carnival” submission box below or email a link to your blog post. All we ask is that you link back to this carnival on your blog – I’ve got a super-cool button coming soon!

Thanks for playing! Now let’s have some fun!

I was recently speaking in Seattle, Washington and had a chance to finally see the Pikes Place Fish Market in action.  (In case you don’t know it, Humor in the Workplace speakers have turned the Fish Philosophy into a near cliché.)

As you know (unless you’ve lived in a cave) the Fish Market is famous for a fun atmosphere  — and for turning that fun atmosphere into a healthy profit.  Tourists and customers gather to watch the fun as the fish mongers literally throw fish, laugh and joke with customers, and generally enjoy their work. The result for the fish market is more than fun and smiles:  it’s a thriving business.  A world-famous thriving business.   It’s a totally cool place with a totally cool concept.  (Hey Mom!  I used “totally cool” twice!)    It’s also been beaten like a dead horse.  Ok already!  Throwing fish is fun.

It’s been the inspiration for many a motivational speaker, a series of motivational videos, courses and other products.  If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked, “Brad, have you heard about the Fish Philosophy?” … I’d have…. well, a couple of bucks at least.  

If the thought of reading a blog post about the fish market makes you want to hurl, stick with me….I’m headed somewhere.

Watching the “show” at the market reminded me that a fun workplace doesn’t require funny people.  You don’t have to be a funny, joke telling manager or leader to create a pleasant work environment.  At the Market, I didn’t see a single comedian.  I didn’t hear a single joke.  

What I did see was a staff that had been empowered to be (and have) fun at work. 

Fun without funny?

Tossing a fish is not funny.  Can you imagine tossing an albacore in your workplace and getting a laugh?  (My guess is that you’d get a quick visit from HR.    “Hey everybody, Janeen is just threw a grouper at me!”)

So what was so fun about the fish market if it wasn’t flying fish? In a word, the fun was in the work culture.  They are having so much fun it is infectious. 

My point?  This fish market encourages it’s employees to have fun.  It makes it safe for them to have fun.  And it rewards them for having fun.  

Nobody is required to be funny…yet the laughter and smiles are ever present.  (It’s important to mention that in addition to laughs and smiles, the Market is well known for customer service, quality product and a staff that is willing to make every shopping experience a positive experience.) 

If you want your work culture to be more fun and funny, remember that you don’t have to be funny yourself.  You just have to do your part to encourage others to be fun. 

Throwing fish not required.

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Washington Motivational Speaker, Fish Thrower*

* Ok, not really.  I’ve honestly never  thown a fish.  A small rabbit** perhaps, but never a fish.

**Yes, I’m kidding.  (Rabbits wiggle too much to really get a good spiral.***)

***I’m joking again.  It’s a bad habit.  But hey, it’s my job.

****Are you looking for the site above where there was “****” There isn’t one. This footnote is just a little added bonus joke. Ha ha. Get it? Ok, me neither.

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I got a kick out of this funny tee shirt. What cracks me up is how this shirt isn’t far from the truth.

Would you have the guts to wear it to a community college?

How else could you offend the “hand that feeds you?”  What is the worst tee shirt you could imagine wearing at work?

How about:

My Manager is Insecure and Incompetent.

If (insert your company/organization here) was stupid enough to hire me, how good could they really be?   Or:  Home Depot is desperate enough to hire even me

How about for folks in retail:

Nobody who works here uses the crap we sell.   (For example, if you work for Ford, your shirt would be “Everybody at Ford drives a Chrysler.”)

Or for restaurant workers:

This hell hole barely passed the heath inspection.

How far could YOU go to slam your workplace?   When does a slam turn from funny to offensive?  Let me know.

PS.  My brother is a college counselor / advisor, and I doubt even he could get you into school if you can’t spell community college.

If you think levity and lightheartedness are important to corporate America, join the crowd.  In particular, join the folks at Microsoft Finance North America. 

I worked with this group recently in Seattle, Washington and, like most of my favorite clients, I learned at least as much from them as they learned from me.

(Read the related blog entry about my trip to Microsoft)

I was totally impressed with this organization. (If you read my blog you know that I rarely say that.)

Why?

•  I was impressed with the transparency of the organization.  I was impressed how everything was “on the table” …. I heard candid discussions on the recent (and odd) TV commercials, the aborted attempt to buy Yahoo, the fact that Vista’s popularity is lower than they’d like.   Contrast this openness with many of my other (unnamed!) clients who spend more time instructing me about what I cannot talk about than what their folks need to hear.   [For example, I once worked for a client who had JUST gone through a huge set of layoffs.  They forbade me to discuss the layoffs ... as though their folks might forget that 50% of their friends were no longer there and they themselves were worried about their job security.  Oye!]

• I was impressed by the people.  They are good people who love their families, work exceptionally hard, and are very loyal to each other and their company.

• This group was fun loving.   They like each other, and it showed.  They were easy to make laugh.  Ready with fun anecdotes and conversation.  They were a far cry from what any of us might expect from folks who work in the high tech industry for a finance department.   Many times I’ve worked at corporate meetings where people are forced to socialize with each other. It’s clear that they don’t want to be socializing… but they have to be there so they are.  Not so at Microsoft.  Their obvious enjoyment in each other was fun to watch.

• They were eager to ramp up the fun.  They were ready to share best humor practices with each other and with me. I often have to work hard to break the ice with a new corporate group.  Not this one:  MFNA was ready to laugh from minute one.

• During my program, I joked about clown noses, and taught a few funny ways to use them at work to handle stress.  We arranged to make sure everybody had a nose to take with them.  As you can see from these photos, they didn’t go to waste. 

Near the end of our time together we split into groups and brainstormed ideas about safeways to create more levity and humor at Microsoft.  [We spend so much of our time at work, it makes sense to create fun. How can we do it?]  We heard a bunch of great ideas…but check out one group’s very specific ideas about how to increase the levity at the office. 

1.       Friday Jokes

2.       Laugh at every meeting

3.       Happy Button

4.       Monday stories of weekend adventures

5.       Share embarrassing stories

6.       Dance in the focus rooms

7.       Dance every time you hear or see a “GO DO”

8.       Baby picture ID badges

9.       Word Bingo _  Drowning the puppies - (who ever imagined  we would here these words together!)

10.   Hawaiian shirt day

11.   Match the story to the person

12.   e-flowers/emoticons

But what was my favorite part?  It came 10 days after I left Seattle when I heard that CFO John Rex bought a Nerf Gun to attack his team.  (And, as a follow up, his awesome assistant, Amelia, bought guns for the rest of the team so they could create a defensive strategy.)    ”Hey everybody!  Let’s buy Nerf Guns!”

Humor, levity and lightheartedness help us with morale, creativity, energy, communication, and — in the end — productivity.  It was unbelievably cool to share this message with Microsoft Finance.  But it was even cooler to see that they “got it.”

Thanks So Much, MFNA!

Brad Montgomery
Microsoft Fan, Washington Motivational Speaker, Nerf Enthusiast

PS.  Microsoft gets so much bad press.  I suppose it is impossible not to have some detractors if you’re that big, and that omni-present.  [After all, how many companies have actually changed the entire world besides Microsoft?]  It’s impressive.   When you’re there in person, working with the individuals who make up a part of this massive organization, it’s hard not to leave impressed.  

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I admit it, I laughed at the first one, but hated the second one.

What do you think? Am I crazy?

What do YOU think makes a prank office safe / corporate safe?

Would YOU ever do this at your office? Think this would count as a “safe office practical joke?” Comment! I dare ya!

How far can YOU go with practical jokes at your office?

…and he learned how to be funny.

If you think humor is just for kids, shame on you.

Where most corporate types go wrong is in assuming that humor = jokes.  Or clown noses.  Or punchlines.  Fun can come in many different shapes, forms and places.

I recently returned from a motivational seminar on humor in the workplace for the Farmington Unified School District in New Mexico. (Actually, we met in Colorado…. just a few miles from their district across the border.)  I met principals and administrators who really liked the idea of “play” at work. I was able to help them find ways to transform their corporate humor culture and their funny bones in the process. However, as usual, the best humor at work ideas came from the audience.   

During the seminar, we looked at ways humor and levity could make any environment a little lighter — resulting in better productivity, morale, and retention. And, in a academic environment where things have to be very precise and “above the line”, it means that the administrators and leaders have to be more clever and more creative in finding the balance to make work and humor mesh.

Let’s face it, “starchy” leaders lead us to a lousy work environment. It is a leader’s job to set the “humor-meter” for their staffs and for the office. In the case of this New Mexico school district, they had NO trouble finding things to make them all smile.

* One of the principals did crossing guard duty (boring, right?) and decided to make up a game to goof off with his students. As you know, it doesn’t take much to get kids started anyway. So when a kid asked to cross the street, the crossing-guard-principal-man asked for their favorite color. The student replied, “Pink.” He tells them, “Ok, you can cross when the next pink car goes by.” Well, this creates much laughter and giggling because that’s only going to happen when the Mary Kay caravan comes through. Finally though, a pink car does come by and the kids do all they can to contain their squeals and giggles.

The next day, the same kid was asked the same question. What was their favorite color. Well the kids are smarter and have caught on AND they’re not willing to endure another flamingo parade, so he says his favorite color is…white. What does the principal do? He tells the kid “You can cross when 7 white cars go by.” The kids…crack…up.

The result? The kids had fun and bonded with their principal, plus it’s cool to see your principal dressed up in a orange safety vest, directing traffic.

But more importantly, the principal created levity that he enjoyed.  He turned the crossing guard duty to something he enjoyed:  it was a way for him to feel connected with his kids / end users / clients, it helped remind him why he chose education as an industry in the first place, and the smiles he earned in that safety vest helped him survive some of the icky parts of his job. 

My point?  Have fun at work. Not because you’ll get others to laugh or smile, or because you want them to listen closer – though these reasons ought to be good enough for anybody.    Have fun at work because it makes you better at your job.  These educators were better administrators because they actively made their work more lighthearted. That makes them better leaders, better managers and better educators. And in the end… isn’t that better for their students?

If you are educator, a school administrator or even a student, how do YOU make your fun at work? What was the most creative thing that you’ve ever done for a laugh. Care to share?

P.S. Thanks Farmington! I had a blast working with you in New Mexico!

Got a good knock-knock joke? What about a few “Take my wife…please” one-liners? You can never have too many, “This man walked into a bar…”. Ok, I lied.

Ok, so maybe you won’t tell those jokes at work. (Most of you SHOULDN’T tell them period.) But lightening up at work not only feels good…. it pays off.

Don’t believe me? This article by MSNBC agrees with me … I guess I’m a genius.

In my keynotes and seminars, I speak to overworked 9-to-5’ers the importance of simply enjoying life — especially our lives at work. I also talk about humor in the workplace.

When I talk about finding the humor in most situations, I don’t mean knee-slapping one-liners (although if they work for you— go for it). I just mean that we all can take ourselves less seriously while still taking what we do seriously.

For example: It’s not necessary to do a spreadsheet just to get everybody’s lunch order! For crying out loud, your not launching a space shuttle; you’re buying some chow!

Your homework is to find something at work today that makes you smile. Maybe it’s the fact that one of your clients said something funny. Or that your work mate has that crazy laugh. Or that the accounting geek sent the lunch order in using Excel.

Don’t worry; you won’t be graded. But find something that makes you smile.

Really. It’s OK to laugh.

Do YOU need a speaker (and can’t afford Leno?) I’d love to be your guy. Go to the contact page now.

Brad Montgomery

Fan Of Leno, Humor in the Workplace Pro, Joke Teller

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Photos can make me happy.

A while back I worked for a hardworking team at Arcadis US.

My job was to help this small team  – there were only 12 of us – find specific ideas to take themselves less seriously at work, find ways to incorporate more levity into their work relationships and basically boost up the fun quotient at work.

What I love most about these facilitated session with smaller groups like this one is that I get to do more leading and less talking.  Generally the best ideas come from them.  And this group was awesome in that they did come up with some great, specific and killer ideas about how to find and incorporate more humor in the workplace.

So what, you might ask, were their great ideas?

To name a few:

They decided to create a wandering kaleidoscope.  Because of the way kaleidoscopes help us see life with a different perspective, their plan was to pass this kaleidoscope to people who needed a gentle reminder to lighten up. (Way better than a slap in the face, eh?)

This department also had a huge white board, and based on our time together, they committed to use the white board to celebrate each other as well as to create some fun.   They adapted one of our creativity exercises into a white board project. 

As a team, they committed to “write” a story one word at a time.  One person would start it with one word, and then leave the board.  The next person to walk buy would add the second word, etc.    This team building activity seems way more cool  – and workable – then falling backwards into a team-members waiting hands.

And finally, the committed to pick a single song as their Marketing and Communications anthem.  They would use that song to “push” each other into more cooperative moods and to generally remind each other of their mutual desire to make work fun.

But I think the coolest outcome from this Aracadis team was non-specific.  Together we spent three hours brainstorming ways to be more glad at work.   Ways to make our time in the office more fun.  And when they saw how badly tghe reset of the team wanted what they wanted – to enjoy work more – they felt better about themselves and their relationships to each other and to their jobs.

As for me, don’t get me wrong, I love working with large groups.  But there is something very cool about taking a small team and moving them closer to a happy, mellow, and respectful work environment.

Thanks Aracdis!

Think your team could benefit from a very funny motivational speaker who also happens to facilitate team building events?  Hire me.  Go to the contact page. 

Brad Montgomery
Colorado Speaker, Humor in the Workplace Expert, Fan of Arcadis US