1. “Thank you for being a Cheerful Influence…aka Court Jester.” Keep some funny upbeat cards around. At the end of the week, ask for a vote for who was the Court Jester or “Cheerful Influencer” of the week. Past one of the cards around for everyone to sign and present it to them.
2. Encourage creativity by rewarding “THE Most Creative Person” weekly, monthly or quarterly…but name it something more creative.
3. Wear the right shoe on the right foot and the wrong shoe on the left foot helping everyone have fun and remember to always lead in the right direction. (You’ll be amazed at the number of folks that don’t even notice!)
4. Have the ugliest tie day, everyone gets to vote on the winner. Winner get a prize of another ugly tie.
5. Everyone wears a pair of odd or mismatched socks and proudly display them.
6. Catch a snowflake on your tongue contest. With or without snow…have participants demonstrate their technique.
7. Movie title of the week theme: Based on the events facing the office the coming week, adopt a movie title as the theme, i.e. Mission Impossible.
8. Everyone tells their daydream of where and what they’d be doing right now if they had Bill Gates money.
9. Have a finger painting contest to draw the best solution for the biggest problem facing the office.
10. Pachyderm Day…there’s an elephant in ointment. Have a contest for the most creative way to address the real office issues or situation. (Some rules may need to be applied.)
11. On the hour…every hour, for two minutes everyone talks toddler talk…”me need you report by 10:00 today…peas!
12. Give everyone a playing card when they arrive. See how many winning hands they can create in two minutes.
13. Play tourist day…secretly pick a person to play like they are a customer, guest or tourist in the office. Let everyone know one of them is on the sleuth looking for great office conduct. Let them report back rewarding the fun stuff they observed.
14. Everyone bring their favorite covered dish for lunch…the more regional the better.
15. Bring a bag of easy-or not, magic tricks. Let everyone choose one and see if they can master it in two minutes.
16. Write your own office fairy tale. Post a large piece of paper or dry board. Begin with…Once upon a time, there was an office…let everyone contribute by writing one sentence or thought daily. See what the fairy tale tells in one week.
17. Create an office skit around a goal or issue in two minutes.
18. Counting Competencies Calendar…create a BIG monthly calendar to allow everyone a place to cSuiteure competencies they experienced by other staffers that month.
19. Having a Laughing Lunch where everyone must bring a gender friendly real live funny story or joke offending no one.
20. Once a quarter, or annually, bring a stuffed animal or toy that reflects the personality of a co-worker who’s name you drew or were assigned. At the end telling “Why I choose this for your personality sharing”…deliver the item to one of the local charities for children. You will be a community hero.
21. Have an “I am not perfect and proud of it because day.” The best not perfect winds applause and admiration from peers. Rule is…no judgment allowed.
22. On cloudy days, see how many times the office can use the word “sunshine” in a normal business reference. Have them keep tick marks and add them up so they can out number themselves on the next cloudy day.
23. Take turns bringing in a “white elephant” gift you wish you hadn’t gotten and do a sales job on your office members on why this is such a deal for them to take it home.
24. Bid on wrapped “white elephant” gifts (the prettier the wrapping the more the money) and give the collected money to a local or favorite charity or cause.
25. When completing working on a project, sing a group completion song such as “Nan-nan nan nan, Nan-nan nan nan, Hey, hey, hey…Good Bye!” (Ask any “Boomer” for the tune to this song.)
26. Have everyone bring in something from the attic or storage…like an old toy or item they just can’t part with. i.e. Barbie of 30 years ago…or a musical instrument. (Now you know what’s in my attic!)
27. Give a prize for the most completed crossword puzzles over the weekend, or maybe for the hardest puzzle.
28. Have a music theme day. Everyone brings in a sample of their favorite tunes. (2 minutes may be a good limit in this case.)
29. Reward an “Out of Dinning Experience” to the most outrageous shared dinning out story…good or bad.
30. Recognize the “We did it Saturday Club.” Decide as a group…majority rules, what personal household chore you want to have completed by Monday, i.e. rake the leaves, clean a closet, take stuff to Goodwill. Then reward with candy or some small token, all of those who did it on Monday.
31. Trivial Ties That Bind. Discover trivial things about each other because it helps to bond a group, i.e. Who puts additional salt on their food? Who like to “chug” hot sauce? Who eats all their snacks before the movie? Favorite candy?
32. Have a sauntering contest. Who is the best office saunter-er? They must prove by demonstrating. Reward accordingly.
33. Bring a container such as a basket or fish bowl and ask everyone to write on a piece of paper what kind of encouragement they need from management. Then show it to management and do some of it.
34. Everyone come to work thirty minutes before sunrise and silently watch it come up together to get ready for a glorious day.
35. Have a favorite pajamas party breakfast meeting in office or…out in public (some rules may need to apply).