The game is exactly as it sounds: each person attempts to keep three balloons aloft for one minute. You want your employ­ees to feel a sense of belong­ing and of being part of a tight-knit team. This is a great team-build­ing activ­i­ty, as well as being lots of fun. Watch Indi­vid­ual and Team Strengths Shine with Trivia. A pre-match hud­dle is pop­u­lar for ath­letes — it serves to ral­ly them and get them enthused and ener­gised for the task ahead. At the end of the day, taking steps to boost employee morale will help all of your workers feel happier and more engaged with their work. 1. Some offices may not want their employees to engage in office games, but it is always a good idea to present this idea if it is not on the minds of upper management yet. Scav­enger hunts aren’t just a fun pas­time for chil­dren — a lot of adults secret­ly enjoy the chal­lenge of being sent off in search of ran­dom, hard-to-find objects, mak­ing this one of our favourite employ­ee morale activ­i­ties. We’ve com­piled a list of employ­ee morale activ­i­ties and staff morale boost­ers that will quick­ly and effec­tive­ly unite a team, lift its spir­it and incen­tivise it to go that extra mile for your business. With no commute, less pressure to wear a full face of makeup and formal office attire, and fewer distractions, working from home definitely has its perks. Game #8: Pop the balloons Make sure to have PLENTY of balloons on hand and get two different colors to make counting easier. In the weeks pri­or to the hunt, get your employ­ees involved and ask them to send you anony­mous sug­ges­tions for items that they believe should be includ­ed in the hunt. Pick one and use it for this exercise. Inter­est­ing­ly, it has been found that an act of kind­ness of any type can boost hap­pi­ness. There are a lot of ben­e­fits to a hap­py employ­ee. Game #1: Pick up M&Ms with chopsticks If possible, find a website that factors in mistakes and backspaces for a more of a challenge – here is one http://www.typingtest.com/ . Fill it with quotes, jokes, activities, and other fun things that they can do to get a quick morale boost and motivation to continue with a productive work day. Divide into two teams (names should reflect how you labeled the items). Office picnics are a classic way to boost employee morale. Game #7: Buzzword This party game is a quick and fun way to organize a one or two-minute break in the workday. They are engaging, inexpensive, thoroughly fun, and guaranteed to bring a little constructive play to your office: Binder Clip Tag You don't need a large budget to build camaraderie in the workplace -- sometimes all you need is a simple office binder clip. Dis­cov­er twelve fun office games to boost morale with­out break­ing the bank below. Send them a hand­writ­ten note, get your cowork­ers to sign a card or organ­ise a birth­day cake. We all need a little fun at work. If you’re on a budget but you still want to incorporate play into the grind, here are a couple of examples of fun, engaging in-office team building games you can play. It also gives indi­vid­u­als a chance to get to know a bit more about one anoth­er. The team that gets the most kidney beans and the most chickpeas in one minutes wins. Divide employees into two teams. Employee morale refers to the overall attitude and satisfaction that workers have in the workplace. Create opportunities to celebrate and have some fun with your employees, like a company potluck … You can even encour­age a lit­tle friend­ly com­pe­ti­tion by pro­vid­ing prizes. Take the time to cel­e­brate employ­ee birth­days, even if it’s with some­thing small. Triv­ia is fun for all types of per­son­al­i­ties and — to make it more rel­e­vant to work — you can even throw in a few work or com­­pa­ny-relat­ed ques­tions to help enforce com­pa­ny cul­ture. It helps to alleviate stress and build teams and relationships. This idea, submitted by Steven, incorporates this principle, and the object of the game is to have agents pretend they … Use this before a larger party to make decorating easier. If one works in a small office, or games are needed for a work place unit consisting of few individuals, you will find our office party games for small groups effective for parties and anytime your employees gather in a group. 10. 1. Themed office days allow employ­ees to be a lit­tle cre­ative with their ensem­bles. And turn the right ones into reality. You can use tech­nol­o­gy such as Fit­bits to track and com­pare steps — these con­tests allow employ­ees to pri­ori­tise fit­ness while inter­act­ing and engag­ing with their colleagues. It will help every­one to feel more con­nect­ed and allow rela­tion­ships to devel­op and solidify. Despite their strange names, Werewolf (also known as Mafia) and Eat Poop, You Cat are fun office games that promote team bonding. These rooms involve employ­ees work­ing togeth­er and divid­ing up tasks to solve a con­vo­lut­ed puz­zle, all while a clock ticks away in the back­ground. Here are some tips to help you create a work environment that can play a part in improving employee morale and attracting and retaining the top talent. Food stands that serve snow cones, popcorn, corn dogs and cotton candy are also fun. Try incorporating fun office events into your workplace to boost morale and inspire enthusiasm after teams accomplish milestones or finish big projects. Our jobs end up mean­ing a lot to us, and our careers form a big part of our iden­ti­ty. Supply a cooler of drinks and water to keep everyone hydrated. Game #6: Keep 3 balloons aloft for one minute 12. Encourage In-Office Play. The person with the most wins. ... employees are more likely to be relaxed and welcome to bonding in their homes. Shrewd managers understand the importance of team-building exercises. Let's get started! These games are a great way to boost morale in your company, but it is best to check in with your upper management before bringing these games to your office. It’s a collaborative game that includes intrigue and teamwork. 11 Ways to Boost Employee Morale . The office can set up different games such as bag races, three-legged races, volleyball and softball. Time each member of the team, add up the individual times, and the team that has the longest time wins. Make it a barbecue and offer fun prizes for the winners to level up the fun factor. You will need plenty of desk space and a fair amount of beans for this game but it’s a quick and fun diversion. Ronda Suder All work and no play makes the office a dull place. Popular contact centre games often involve creativity to rejuvenate agents’ minds, to boost morale and provide motivation during a repetitive routine. As good as these (and your) ideas are, sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to team-building and stress release. Your birthday is like your own personal holiday. As a quick morale boost­er, con­sid­er imple­ment­ing reg­u­lar sports days for your employ­ees. Once you have com­piled a list, split your employ­ees into teams and watch them work through the check­list. Pick a theme and let their imag­i­na­tions run wild. Here is a list game ideas of from the game-smiths at Waxwing Puzzle Company in Chicago. Triv­ia is a great way to get employ­ees to work togeth­er, while also get­ting them engaged and ener­gised. Just like it sounds: Teams attempt to blow up (and tie) as many balloons as possible. exer­cise has the abil­i­ty to improve men­tal focus, themed office days are a proven morale boost­er, towards employ­ee and morale build­ing schemes, an act of kind­ness of any type can boost hap­pi­ness, Performance Management for the Legal Sector, Performance Management in the Public and Third Sector. Organ­ise a pic­nic or a bar­beque. While you’re here, explore how con­tin­u­ous per­for­mance man­age­ment can boost employ­ee morale. 12 Ways to Help Boost Team Morale. Employees won’t fulfill their potential or achieve their employee performance goals if they’re lacking confidence. Escape rooms involve employ­ees being​“locked” in a room with their col­leagues for a giv­en peri­od. You might take great pride in your office’s pro­fes­sion­al­ism and for­mal dress code, but now and then, it might be a good idea to loosen the reins and have a lit­tle fun. It will give them some­thing to look for­ward to and get their endor­phins flow­ing, which is a great way for them to bond. During tough economic times, where our staff is dealing with salary freezes and the limiting of benefits, it is especially important to lighten the mood of the office. This is a great game to play as teams or individually. Consider taking a day away from the office and hosting a friendly sports event in which employees compete in teams to win prizes across various sports. 1. Yeah, you’ll feel a little silly, but themed workdays are an easy way to boost employee morale and get everyone excited to go to work. 44.Caught Ya In The Act. 12 Virtual Team Building Activities and Games to Boost Morale This post may contain affiliate links. The return to a clean space may just be the spark you need to instantly improve morale. Who says work has to be all work? ... (especially strategy-based games) to the table. You’ll need a lot of M&Ms, bowls, chopsticks if you play it as individuals but it’ well worth the outlay in materials (plus everyone gets to eat the M&Ms when the game is finished). Many staff would benefit from some fun office activities to boost morale. Barbara Glanz Biography. Google “typing test” or “one minute typing test” and you’ll find numerous websites that calculate typing speed. What’s more, most employ­ees are eager to be more fit and active, but they lack the oppor­tu­ni­ty and moti­va­tion to do it alone — par­tic­u­lar­ly if they are stuck behind a desk for eight hours each day. What’s more, certain types of music make repetitive tasks more enjoyable, improve focus, and can even make us more creative. If the office does not have a budget for activities, then each employee can choose to bring his or her favorite topping. 2. 04. If you have a vari­ety of ques­tions and sub­ject areas, it allows employ­ees of dif­fer­ent back­grounds and tal­ents to show off their strengths. Explain the rules which aren’t terribly difficult to understand and then give each team one minute to get guess as many phrases as possible. Get your team out of the office occasionally for a totally unique and different activity, like volunteering for a day at Habitat for Humanity. Here are our top six recommendations. It’s harder than it sounds and you may want to see – while shooting for a minute – who can go the longest. to make this work but that shouldn’t be too hard to find. By playing games that people associate with their childhood, you’ll boost morale and employee happiness tenfold. Did you know that exer­cise has the abil­i­ty to improve men­tal focus and per­for­mance? This is a fun and engaging why to keep everyone talking and giving encouragement. 30 Virtual Team Building Activities To Boost Remote Employee Morale In 2020. “As a way to boost morale and encourage teamwork while we’re apart, my company has been hosting virtual trivia nights every week. You may have to run more than one round to get a score where someone wins but this is still an exercise that is short and sweet…not to mention fun. Social con­nec­tions play an impor­tant role when it comes to employ­ee morale. There is no real aim or direc­tion to these meet­ings — they’re mere­ly a chance for peo­ple to con­nect and unwind togeth­er, but you’d be sur­prised what a dif­fer­ence they can make. To find out how Clear Review’s per­for­mance man­age­ment soft­ware can help you boost morale and per­for­mance in your remote team, book a free demo today. Game #5: One-minute trivia game With improved morale comes increased team­work, greater lev­els of reten­tion and improved pro­duc­tiv­i­ty. It is great for morale when employ­ees know that they mat­ter to their organ­i­sa­tion and that their impor­tant mile­stones aren’t overlooked. You could divide into two teams and, provided enough room, have one person from each team attempt this feat at the same time (you’d need six balloons in that case – perhaps 3 red and 3 blue). Start­ing an employ­ee book club can seri­ous­ly help to unite your work­force and boost employ­ee engage­ment. This is a quick and easy way to play a game with your employees. Game #2: One-minute typing test Cov­er progress towards organ­i­sa­tion­al goals and any rel­e­vant obsta­cles, and use the oppor­tu­ni­ty to moti­vate and inspire your employ­ees with great leadership. A member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame and one of fewer than 700 Certified Speaking Professionals worldwide, Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations to improve morale, retention and service and with people who want to rediscover the joy in their work and in their lives. Keep reading below for our blog post on the top ten teaming-building office games which can boost your office morale. Your employees will respect honesty while you work together to fix any issues. You can set up the website on one computer and have employees take turns or you can give everyone the website (if they have access to the internet) and all employees do it at the same time. Morale boosters are a great way to improve office culture and earn the benefits of team building . Alternatively, you could then play the following game. There's even been an "International Fun at Work Day" created to encourage having fun at work. That's until you give it a go in the office. If both teams get all items, the team to get all items and return to start fastest wins. It's run by a different division each week to encourage everyone to get involved and has been a fun way to spend a few hours—and a welcome distraction.” - Anna Barker, Founder at LogicalDollar. It's very different to normal work (unlike Game #2 so it should be very effective at cutting stress). The sports don’t have to be tar­get­ed towards those who are nat­u­ral­ly gift­ed and fit — they can include games such as bowl­ing, clay pigeon shoot­ing or darts. It's very different to normal work (unlike Game #2 so it should be very effective at cutting stress). While technically this treasure hunt game takes more than one minute, the entire game start to finish will probably take five minutes or less. The activities and tips on this list improve performance and create a more pleasant work atmosphere. Ball Games Some companies have increased morale by signing the office up for a softball or basketball league. To boost morale, con­sid­er host­ing a fam­i­­ly-friend­­ly event or out­ing dur­ing work hours. Con­sid­er doing some­thing sim­i­lar with your employ­ees. 10. Some com­pa­nies decide to take a seri­ous stance on issues such as obe­si­ty and imple­ment office​“Biggest Los­er” style com­pe­ti­tions and con­tests. If you want to make the book club even more rel­e­vant to your work­place, you can pro­pose non-fic­­tion books relat­ing to per­son­al growth and self-help — a genre asso­ci­at­ed with extreme­ly suc­cess­ful indi­vid­u­als. You may have to run more than one round to get a score where someone wins but this is still an exercise that is short and sweet…not to mention fun. Office games create an informal atmosphere which helps to create trust at the workplace, boost morale and foster engagement among your staff. Instrumental music works best, as lyrics have a tendency to distract. Of course, you’ll need the game. Hide each item throughout the office (you can hide one item for each team in the same place) – this is easier to do if you hide the items in a seldom-used location while your employees are working. Arrange a Scavenger Hunt A scavenger hunt may seem like a children's game. Save the longer games for once a week (or every other week), and try these one-minute game ideas for a quick bit of fun that everyone is sure to enjoy. You get access to all of our courses, as well as the chance to connect with forward thinking HR professionals in our various communities. Game #4: One-minute treasure hunt HR professionals share low-cost ideas to boost employee morale and make other positive workplace changes. Employee morale boosters are fast and simple ways to boost your staff’s mood and productivity. Manager, Get a free Employee Engagement PDF guide + all the blog articles straight to your inbox, This party game is a quick and fun way to organize a one or two-minute break in the workday. But it stinks for employee morale. Keep reading for 5 effective ways to boost employee morale and keep boredom from settling in. It can boost morale and, more importantly, it can help spark each person’s creativity, which can be extremely beneficial for meetings. Get access to the course: How to engage disengaged employees, Healther Saunders; ECITB Product Dev. We can have fun outside of the office. Office Party Games for Small Groups. Gather everyone together and give everyone one minute to answer as many questions as possible. Learn how a bizarre year catapulted performance management thinking. It’s a win-win. Whether your employ­ees are encour­aged to turn up as their favourite lit­er­ary hero or com­ic book supervil­lain, themed office days are a proven morale boost­er. Here’s why you should be more concerned with promoting healthy self-esteem. Also just like it sounds (with a twist): Divide into two teams – or get each team to nominate one member – and instruct participants to pop as many balloons as possible in one minute WHILE WEARING OVEN MITTS OR BOXING GLOVES. All Rights Reserved. 1. Periodically playing games with your employees (no, we’re not talking mind games) is a great way to build camaraderie and provide a much-needed break from the stresses of a workday (or workweek), all while building team morale. Plan fun non-work activities. Divide into two teams and then instruct teams to separate the beans into type. Incor­po­rat­ing a dai­ly hud­dle into your office activ­i­ties will only take a few min­utes, but it could prove to be one of the most pow­er­ful morale boost­ers and employ­ee engage­ment tools in your arse­nal. The more trust is present in a … Fitness challenges frequent here (planking and wall sits) and team competition gets fierce. © 2021 Clear Review. Game #3: Blow up balloons Conclusion If you oper­ate a remote team, morale should be a huge focus for you. Here are the fun office games for employees to play at work that Andrea Augustine at Limeade shared with me: From walking meetings to coloring and puzzle stations, there’s always something to get us out of our chairs (well, standing desks that is). Give each team one minute to find as many items as possible that contain their team name. While you’re here, explore how con­tin­u­ous per­for­mance man­age­ment can boost employ­ee morale. Inform them about company updates, new protocols, customer feedback, and more. ... Print this and put it up on your office’s walls as a fun reminder of your team work. Save the longer games for once a week (or every other week), and try these one-minute game ideas for a quick bit of fun that everyone is sure to enjoy. Employees are people. Small ges­tures can mean a lot to employ­ees. But don’t just assume that your staff will have a blast at any outside-the-office … In any case, it’s a fun way to get to know those you work with and it can — to a certain extent — get people to look forward to rather than dread meetings. Game #1: Pick up M&Ms with chopsticks This is a great game to play as teams or individually. Werewolf involves assigning people roles and having the “villagers” guess who the “werewolves” are before they’re attacked. This eBook explores how you can improve the productivity and engagement of your employees in new normal, with our 5-step productivity model. These are all simple, yet effective ways of bringing a little fun into the work place, and to help boost employee morale. Again, while not technically a game that can be played from start to finish in one minute, this game is a great way to get staff out of their seats and provide a short diversion during the workday. Contestants cannot step on, sit on, bite, poke, or use any other implement but their hands to pop the balloons. We spend so long at work that our cowork­ers become a sec­ond fam­i­ly. Game #9: Separate the beans Offer drawings and prizes for game winners. Permutations abound for this game so use your imagination. Escape rooms are boom­ing in pop­u­lar­i­ty around the world, and they are now being tar­get­ed towards employ­ee and morale build­ing schemes. They then need to find and solve clues to allow them to escape. Ice Cream Parties . The morale boost will contribute to your business’s success. Separate one bag of kidney beans and one bag of chickpeas into a bowl for each team (you’ll also need four empty bowls for the sorting). Never fear! The team that gets the most items wins. Albert Einstein might have summarized it in the best way: “Play is the highest form of research”. Purchase two bags of kidney beans and two bags of chickpeas (or any type of beans that differ in color or shape). Employee engagement and team-building don’t have to be full (or half) day activities. Write ten to twenty trivia questions on a sheet of paper (use both sides) and make enough copies for each employee. Mod­ern busi­ness­es are con­tin­u­al­ly look­ing at how to boost employ­ee morale with no cost — for­tu­nate­ly, we’ve done the leg­work for you. Examples of the available activities include Online Office Games, which is a series of virtual team building games/activities like typing-speed races, spreadsheet pixel-art and print-paper origami, and Murder in Ancient Egypt which is a murder mystery that uses “escape the room” mechanics to … Employee Engagement Activities In Companies – 5 Activities To Try, Renumeration expert Rachael McCamley - interview, Top 5 busiest Human Resources forums/discussion groups. While everyone is out, have the office freshly painted with bright colors. Boost Office Morale: Team-Building Games & Activities. What’s more, it’s extreme­ly cheap to imple­ment and easy to organ­ise. You have to remain transparent to boost staff morale. Explain the rules which aren’t terribly difficult to understand and then give each team one minute to get guess as many phrases as possible. Treat people like people. 1. For some easy and fun employee engagement ideas, see our post here or make up your own team-building game. An ice cream social can be a fun way to bring staff members together. Of course, you’ll need the game Buzzword to make this work but that shouldn’t be too hard to find. To increase office morale, tell your employees you’re always open to hearing their ideas. Make Birthdays a Paid Holiday. They are not a resource to consume. Don’t attempt to hide problems or avoid conversations when morale is low. Dis­cov­er twelve fun office games to boost morale with­out break­ing the bank below. The answer is that you can inject more fun into your office environment! Be Transparent. The team of three who collects the most tails by the end of the game wins. Offer prizes for second and third as well. Adding fun games and ice breakers to the mix can go a long way here. 10 Fun-filled Activities to Help Boost Team Morale. Plus, many classic field day games are inherent bonding games, guaranteed to bring people closer together and improve communication. This only helps those who participate, though, so encourage employees who don't want to play to attend games and cheer everyone on. Nothing quite sets the mood like music, making it a fun and easy way to improve morale in any office setting.