55 Tips to Make Work More Fun
Monday, November 10th, 2008
55 Tips to Make Work More Fun:
- 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.
- Eat perfectly ripened grapes.
- Watch a YouTube video – search “Office Pranks”
- 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 won’t report you to HR.
- Bake cupcakes.
- Write a poem and print out a copy for everyone.
- Make everyone gather for a group photo.
- Compliment everyone that you interact with.
- Ask everyone 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.
- Ask all your co-workers for their best joke. The best one gets a cup of coffee or beer.
- 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 party.
- 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.
- Trade sweaters with someone of the same size
- Bring in a carved design in a piece of fruit (what type of fruit depends on the season).
- Wear all white.
- Give a small gift to all your co-workers.
- 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.
What would be number 56? What do you do at your job to make it more fun?
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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
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.
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
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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