Abstract
3 Both authors presenting The culinary work environment is undeniably stressful due to its physical demands, time pressure, and the need for precision. Designing culinary work environments that encourage creativity, fun and autonomous work may help to reduce stress, mitigate the challenges associated with this work and create thriving culinary workplaces. The aim of this research was to assess how playful work design and flow relates to performance in teams within the culinary work environment. Furthermore, we wanted to determine the role of daily autonomy, and daily ebullient leadership in facilitating playful work designs. A total of 50 chefs participated in a daily diary study over the course of six days (N = 300 observations). We utilized multilevel analysis to analyze the data that was nested at the within-person (level 1) as the week-level and between-person level (level 2) as the individual level. The preliminary results revealed that a direct positive relationship exists between daily playful work design and daily flow. We also found a direct relationship between daily playful work design and daily flow on self-rated performance, while only daily flow was related to other and partner ratings of performance. Further to, we found that daily ebullient leadership and daily autonomy had direct relationships with playful work design, and both had indirect relationships with daily flow through daily playful work design. Self-ratings of performance also had a direct relationship with how the participants rated their culinary partner's performance. It is evident from the results that autonomy, ebullient leadership and playful work design can help facilitate flow experiences in the culinary environment. By promoting a balance between creativity, fun, and autonomy, and cultivating leadership that energizes and motivates, the culinary workplace can become a space where chefs not only produce exceptional food but also enjoy the process, leading to long-term satisfaction and success.