Fun Activities
System
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Can anyone share about activities you've done in your company to improve employee morale or to keep employees engaged and happy at work? Not so much Halloween, X-Mas parties, etc., but spontanious and fun stuff. Activities that distract employees only enough to have a laugh or a moment of fun at work. Thanks for sharing.
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We used to have a Halloween costume contest. We gave away prizes for the best costume, most creative, etc. They loved it. We had rules of course. Costumes had to be within the dress code, could not impair ability to do job, and had to be in good taste. We had 3 Muskateers, California Raisin, etc. A lot of fun.
At Christmas of course we had a big dinner on the floor and had karoeke. We participated in Toys for Tots. They seemed to stay really engaged. As HR Director I frequently walked the floor and talked to the employees and asked how everything was going. If they see you as a person they are more likely to bring issues that hurt morale to your attention. I know I ramble. I hope it is helpful.
We also have had other little contests. Though less spontaneous, the employees like them. For instance, we had them bring in baby pictures and had a prize for the person who could identify the most people. You can do the same for pets. Be careful though, one time we lost one of the baby pictures. It was not a good thing.
Good luck!
Nae
Also consider things like smiley face stress balls (gave them out once), pie baking contests, jokes of the day (always clean ones), etc.
Fun in the workplace -- we like it.
1. April thru October we have a cookout grilling burgers and hot dogs for staff.
2. Every month we have birthday cakes delivered with the initials of staff having birthdays that month.
HR Hat
I took my staff to Fun Depot one day for lunch. It was during school, so noone was there. we played laser tag and raced the go carts. It was great fun.
"Managing To Have Fun" by Matt Weinstein will provide you with dozens of ideas. Plus, its just a great book to read as a reminder that happy people are productive people.
He has included 52 ideas for having fun at work - one for each week of the year.
One thing that helps me when planning these events is the goal of creating a "story" that the employee will rush home and tell their family about. If that happens, I have succeeded.
And dont let a little resistance bother you. There are people who are compelled to express negative comments about anything that is unusual or risky. Its their way of hedging their bets against failure. Keep on course and if you pull of your event, even the sourpusses will eventually admit it was fun.
We do themed potlucks every other month. Themes are pretty loose; foods from your "homeland," Holiday Colors (red/green/blue/gold for Christmastime), tailgate party, comfort foods, weird holiday food traditions in your home, etc.
Spontaneous surprises from managers:
- one supervisor gave all her preschool teachers big fake "bling bling" rings with a note saying "you are a precious gem to me."
- another supervisor likes to give crazy socks. For Halloween, she gave out socks with eyeballs or skulls embroidered on them, with stuffed eyeballs or skulls on the back where the pompoms used to go on tennis socks.
- give everyone seasonal lip balm. Avon has lots of cute stuff
We employ mainly women, so these ideas won't necessarily work for the guys, except those with an unusual sense of humor.
Hope that got your creative juices flowing! x:D
Yeah, but looks aren't everything.
This upcoming weekend is the big Michigan/Michigan State rivalry so on Friday, which is casual day, everyone will be wearing the colors of their favorite team (not necessarily exclusive to Michigan or Michigan State. Next year we plan on doing this with a brat/hamburger cookout. GO BLUE!!!
Hire out someone to come wash and detail the cars of your employees.
Special parkings space of the month.
A fun committee - a small group of fun people that will plan occassional morale boosting events.
Of course, alot of these ideas are not going to boost morale if there is a serious underlying issue that is negatively affecting your employees. For example, if there is a very difficult person in a key position. Or if employees feel they have no voice in the organization.
Morale comes from a sense of unity and purpose. If that isn't present, then all of these suggestions are not going to achieve your goal.
It amazes me that you know how to spell Halloween, but not Christmas. I can't find in the Bible where Christ abbreviated his name with an "X", but then again, I'm still learning.
Oh, the traditions of the season!
Neither Christmas or Halloween are words you find in the Bible. Christmas comes from going to church to celebrate the birth of Christ. People went to Christ's Mass which later became Christmas. Many people assume using the X is disrespectful; as in "Let's put Christ back in Christmas." Those people don't understand what the X stands for. I got the paragraph below from another site. I hope you find it helpful.
"This abbreviation for Christmas is of Greek origin. The word for Christ in Greek is Xristos. During the 16th century, Europeans began using the first initial of Christ's name, "X" in place of the word Christ in Christmas as a shorthand form of the word. Although the early Christians understood that X stood for Christ's name, later Christians who did not understand the Greek language mistook "Xmas" as a sign of disrespect."
I love God. I don't think He cares whether we call Him Jesus, Father, God, Christ, or I Am because He doesn't really have a name. He just wants us to know who we are talking about and call on Him. In other words, some people know who they are talking about regardless of the terms used, and some people don't.
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck!
Nae
>
>I love God. I don't think He cares whether we call Him Jesus, Father, God,
>Christ, or I Am because He doesn't really have a name. He just wants us to
>know who we are talking about and call on Him. In other words, some people
>know who they are talking about regardless of the terms used, and some people
>don't.
AMEN! and AMEN.
Don't want to hijack this thread, however, I get really sad at our misunderstandings these days. I remember Halloween being a really fun and bonding holiday for children when I was little. Now some people preach that it is of the devil. We no longer get an abundance of neighborhood children walking in the dark and getting candy throughout the neighborhood. What a shame. I still dress and pass out candy for those children whose parents allow them to have this simple fun. Last night I was a nurse and gave out pretzels. The kids loved having an adult participate with them.
Hey, I have been out of the loop since my post and want to thank you for the lesson on the Greek Language. As I said, "I'm still learning," I did a little research and found out that you are correct. I don't think it is disrespectful to use the "X" symbol to abbreviate Christmas, I just think it is inapproriate given that we are celebrating the greatest event (my opinion) that ever happened. Now that God is being taken out of everything from schools to government, we latter day Christians who don't understand the Greek language may mistake the "X" as a sign of disrespect to Christ and His day of celebrating His birth. If it is all the same, then I will continue to spell it out as "Christmas" and say "Merry Christmas," and not use the abbreviated Greek version.
I too, love God and call (and I call on Him everyday) Him "Father" as he is the Father of all creation. He may not care that I don't call him by any name, but I do. Must be the Southern Baptist in me and the respect that I think He deserves for being such a great Father. I wonder if the early Christians referred to His Son as Mr "X" or just "X". I suppose regardless of the terms used, God is still God and Christ is His Son.
Thanks for your 2 cents worth. I did learn something about the Greek language.
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Team Brainstorming - 4-6 per group (10-15 minutes)
Ask teams to list: things that are round, things associated with a holiday, things that are red, things you can make out of tires or coat hangers, excuses for speeding, etc. No discussion, just list items! Assign a recorder. The team with the most wins.
This activity helps everyone feel equal and sets the stage for activities on the course topics.
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Beach Ball Brainstorming - entire group (5-10 minutes)
Announce a topic (things associated with a season, a holiday, the course content, the company, etc.). Then pass around an inflatable beach ball. Have everyone stand and pass the ball. When someone catches the ball, they shout out something related to the topic and then toss the ball to someone else. If the group is small, they can pass the ball in a circle chain.
This activity gets people up and moving, and is a fun one to do in the afternoon to break up a long session. It's guaranteed to wake everyone up!
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The Mingle Game - works well with large groups (from 15-200 people) (15-20 minutes)
Use the "HUNT" worksheet & ask participants to walk around the room collecting signatures from people who meet the criteria. A person can only sign the sheet once. If people finish early, have them help others finish their sheets. Collect completed sheets. Select 3 to win prizes.
This ice-breaker also gets people moving and interacting with a larger group.
"On the Hunt" worksheet to use with any group:
Name __________________________
Find Someone Who…
has the same name as yours
is the same age as you
is wearing a red shirt
likes Chinese food
has two children
likes spinach
does not have a middle name
drives a Pontiac
lives in the same town as you
knows all 7 dwarfs
has a birthday the same month as yours
knows a foreign language
does NOT like chocolate
has travelled to Europe
has blue eyes
works part-time
has a Palm Pilot
does NOT know how to use a computer
likes the color purple
has never seen the movie Star Wars
During the walk across the country, started bringing in a healthy snack on Mondays--just enough to last a day or so--not enough to last the entire week. It was meant to be "a" snack...not meals for the week. Proved so tremendously popular have been unable to stop. Reading the grocery ads on Wednesdays has made this a not terribly expensive treat. Sometimes it's cheap. Sometimes it's not quite so cheap. But overall, the average cost is quite reasonable for an office of 70 people. Each Monday an email goes out and announces the snack and provides a little info on why it's good for you.
Quarterly we have an office "social." Might be lunch. Might be a pie ala mode break. (Nice contrast with the healthy snacks..don't you think!!) This quarter we had an espresso and smoothie bar. First quarter of next year we'll have corned beef & cabbage on or about the date of St. Patrick's Day.
Once a month we do a "Care Cart" which is nothing more than going around to each person's desk and serving them breakfast and thank them for a job well done. Since we have people that work on shifts, we do it in the afternoon as well. We use different things like juice, coffee, breakfast sandwiches, muffins and in the afternoon cookies, ice cream etc. During the holidays, we will do hot cider and pumpkins donuts, stuff like that. We make the Care Cart fun by decorating it with streamers, bells and colorful plates. We have two people in the morning and two people in the afternoon. During the holidays, they wll dress in funny hats, wigs, noses, just to make it fun. People love this idea ----
We also have an themed employee lunch for all employees but once a month to recognize someone that has gone above and beyond during the month. We have 4 x 6 cards made up that are called "Keys to Culture" that also keeps our core values in the forefront of what we do everyday. So, for example if someone goes above and beyond in service, and has a card posted to our recognition board (which hangs outside the employee cafeteria for all to see) by another employee and truly shows going above and beyond, we give them a cash award of $50.00. We also announce any runners up to read all the cards submitted so that everyone is recognized whether they win or not.
Not cost anything
Not disrupt the workday in any way
Not create any undue noise
Not create any unnecessary expectations of future fun
I thought I had one that fit the bill, but it turned out that I was wrong.
Six months later, and I'm still hearing about it.