55 + 1 Tips to Make Work More Fun
If you want to create a system that works for you and your team then get the first 6 modules of the Work Happy Now Emergency Kit. Retain your best employees through better work experiences.
- Use your superpowers every single day!
- Take 60 seconds to think about your favorite moment at work.
- Invite a new co-worker out to lunch.
- Bring an extra dessert for your boss.
- Go out and buy a perfectly ripened piece of fruit.
- Give a small gift to all your co-workers that you handmade.
- Come up with a wild idea for the advertising department even if you aren’t in their department.
- Buy donuts for everyone
- Bring in orange juice for everyone
- Find an awesome joke online, memorize it and tell it to everyone.
- Don’t wear any underwear.
- Bring in freshly brewed sun tea.
- Make everyone a copy of your favorite music.
- Have a paper airplane contest. Whoever’s plane goes the farthest gets an extra 15 minute break.
- Wear two different colored socks, see if anyone notices. (step farther – different shoes)
- Give a friendly wink and a smile at someone that you know.
- Bake cupcakes for the office.
- Write a poem during lunch and print out a copy for everyone.
- Make everyone gather for a group photo.
- Compliment everyone that you interact with.
- Ask five people how they are feeling (really listen).
- Bring in a plant for your desk (workspace).
- Bring in stickers that a third grade teacher would have i.e. “You are Great,” and pass them out when someone does something good.
- Ask all your co-workers for their best joke. The best one gets a cup of coffee on you.
- Create a “show and tell” every Friday.
- Have a child paint the office a picture.
- Stretch at your desk for five minutes
- Bring in your old magazines and put them in the lunch room for someone else to read.
- Laugh at yourself.
- Give a copy of your favorite book to the employee who annoys you the most.
- Celebrate everyone’s birthday – tailor it to their likes (note: do not buy a generic cake).
- Dress up like it’s a special day.
- Celebrate a big contract or completion of a project by having music, dancing and a prize of a dinner for two.
- Wash a co-worker’s car during your lunch.
- Have a dress-up day on a random day (besides Halloween).
- Switch jobs with someone in your department for a day.
- Have a fifteen minute exercise break for the whole office.
- Write a letter to the most famous person in your industry asking for one piece of advice.
- Do a 1 minute relaxation exercise that makes you look weird (like yoga nostril breathing), but you don’t care because you’re relieving stress.
- Have a coloring contest – it brings back the “kid in school” feeling.
- Make a cup of hot tea for a co-worker.
- Offer to let someone else borrow your lucky "object" for the day. (figurine, photo, etc.)
- Bring in a carved design in a piece of fruit (what type of fruit depends on the season).
- Wear all white.
- Watch a YouTube video – search “Office Pranks”
- Give every co-worker a special rock that you picked for them and tell them why they got the rock that you gave them.
- Bring in a board game and play it during lunch.
- Everyone write a “thank you” note to their favorite client, customer, or business.
- Let someone borrow your favorite pen.
- Do your boss’s or co-worker’s most hated task.
- Throw a party for everyone in the office. Give one reason why you appreciate each person and that’s why you are throwing a party for everyone.
- Bring in face paints and paint employees’ and customers’ faces.
- Bring in a cool piece of original art from home and display it in the office.
- Create a company song.
- Ask everyone what their favorite animal is and why.
- Bring in Trivial Pursuit cards and ask people questions. If they get it right they win a piece of candy.
If you would like to you and your team to have more fun at work you should try out the first 6 modules of the Work Happy Now Emergency Kit- Break in case of stress overload. It gives you ideas about how to create a more positive experience with your team. You'll also get tips on how to create a more positive experience for yourself.
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Image courtesy of Silicon Valley Blog
I love lists! This is awesome, Karl - and JUST what I needed 🙂
-janelle-
Hi Janelle, glad I could help.
Hi Karl: I like these tips, especially bringing in a plant and having a company song. I was reading today that an employee's productivity and creativity is very dependent on their attitude toward the company they work for.
Marelisa's last blog post..100 Essential Life Lessons
Hi Karl - I had #14 happen to me - purely by accident (it wasn't fun though)
I also like #18 - group photos can be a great time and create a lasing memory.
Superb list!
Barbara Swafford's last blog post..NSNBOTWs - 2 Gals From Down Under
OK, so I'd say doing some of these would definitely take me out of my comfort zone (in a good way) - and probably get some pretty weird looks around here! But, I see this all as FUN! And we might as well have fun in life - it sure beats the opposite. This is good (and sometimes challenging) stuff to try out - thanks Karl!
Lance's last blog post..Believe In Yourself
Hi Marelisa, it's true. An employee that believes in the company will work hard for that company.
Hi Barbara, different colored socks can be fun if you can poke fun at the situation.
Excellent - now I might look a little silly in my home office doing these things, but I would love to challenge you to a coloring contest! - great list and really great article on http://lifedev.net
We are both guest writers for that site and it was a true pleasure to read your change article.
Jacqueline
Wow, "don't wear any underwear"!! An interesting thought...
"Create a company song" might fall under the "how to get laughed at hysterically" at my work!!
Some interesting ideas, I really like exercise breaks, thank you notes, and doing nice things for co-workers.
All the best!
Ross's last blog post..How to stay inspired in tough times
Hi Lance, yes. All in good fun.
Hi Jacqueline, the coloring challenge is on. You pick the time and place and I'll be there.
Hi Ross, I've stopped the no underwear thing, but each to his/her own. I love taking exercise breaks. Good for my soul.
What a great list of ideas! It is so important to keep morale high at work and some of these ideas are great ways to do it. I work at a staffing company in Boston, Hollister (www.hollisterstaff.com/?=451) and will definitely be sharing this will my colleagues! Maybe we'll try and get through the whole list.
I had great fun working in a department that used to do all sorts of things to make the working day more fun - the big brother themed weeks which included a challenge of the week is particularly memorable - I seem to recall writing letters to Jim'll fix it, making pom-poms and portrait drawing all being involved!
great list! And I love the design of the site. Clean. Very easy to navigate. Wow, you have done some fantastic work!
Steve Shapiro's last blog post..The Origin of Spam
Great list! I work from home now and do things to break up my day like blast some music and dance - easy to do when no one's looking! But when I used to work in an office, one of our favorite fun things to do was to plan theme lunches out on a fairly regular basis - it gave us something to look forward to!
Andrea's last blog post..8 Easy Ways to Save Money Without Changing Your Lifestyle
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I like to leave chocolate bars anonymously on people's desks.
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There is nothing more important than creating a great work environment. This is not difficult to achieve, it requires a level of trust and also a commitment from your manager to encourage workplace engagement and social time.
If you never put people down and just said good things. But most people love to gossip. I've been around people who did nothing. They wouldn't leave the house. But if they knew someone that went water skiing they were stupid or they went snow skiing they were dumb. If they worked out and road a bike they were nuts. If they tried to eat right and stay in shape they were a pervert. The thing is to hang around people who like to do activities. Join a bike club. Go to the beach with your family. Take your family fishing. Your family are what count. Your friends don't care about your kids. Families that do things together help each other. The families that go to the beach and set up a barbecue. Or they go surf fishing and they camp out with the famile. If you have nieces and nephews make sure they do things with your kids. Make sure youdo things with the family. Camping, fishing, crabbing or just voat riding. The happiest people share things with the family. The losers go to the bars and never have contact with the family.