Who says office guidelines have to be boring? My apologies in advance to all the hardworking human resource professionals out there, but let’s be honest. Office guidelines are hardly ever engaging or memorable. And sometimes they downright put people off.

When Tuxera needed some new guidelines, our Head of People Operations, Satu Muilu, wanted to bring a little delight to the typically humdrum human resources stuff. The outcome was this fantastic comic drawn by Tuxera’s Design and Creative Lead, Chi Pham:

Want to do something like this for your own company? Here are a few tips to help you get started.

1. Make light of something everyone can relate to

C’mon admit it. You’ve zoned out at least once during a long, intense meeting, just like this person in the frame below.

This is something every employee everywhere can relate to. Familiarity is an essential element in comedy, so apply this concept in your guidelines to make them less stuffy.

2. Be quirky

Tuxera's a tech company. The majority of us find humor in topics related to computers, programming, and tech in general. “Can you clone yourself?” is a quirky response from one Tuxerian to another – not just in the typical sense of cloning, but because it’s a term used in computer science.

Your company has its own special expertise, so go for humor that celebrates the uniqueness or oddities of your field.

3. Hit close to home with inside jokes

If you look closely at the frame below, the shirts worn by Mikko (our CEO) and Szaka (our Founder and CTO) have text on them. Mikko’s reads, “Strength in numbers,” while Szaka’s reads, “Extremely fast.” These are ideals or sayings that we can identify with each individual’s personality. The joke here is something that only Tuxerians can truly understand.

Find something comparable within your own organization—perhaps some phrases commonly heard around the office or some informal traditions observed by your company’s community.

What to do if you don’t have a graphic designer

We’re very fortunate here at Tuxera to have a fantastic artist and graphic designer. But if you don’t happen to have one in house, you can still add a bit of flavor to your guidelines using text alone. Take, for example, the “Can you just clone yourself?” frame above. The copy-only version might read something like this:

“Find a backup to replace you, especially for critical customer projects. Cloning is preferred, but not necessary.”

Final thoughts

If you’re still stuck for ideas, hit some of your favorite comic books or the web for inspiration. Chi drew inspiration from PhD and Incidental Comics when drawing our guidelines. I look to web comics like xkcd or The Oatmeal for nerdy humor. Find comics that touch on topics close to your industry and if you can’t, Dilbert is a classic anyone in any industry can fall back on.

Read more about our guidelines from the people operations perspective in Tuxera’ blog post, “Say goodbye to boring office guidelines.” Now, over to you! Have you tried any innovative ways to make your office guidelines a little less boring? What was your inspiration? Share in the comments!