Your employees will respect honesty while you work together to fix any issues. The team of three who collects the most tails by the end of the game wins. 11 Ways to Boost Employee Morale . Here are our top six recommendations. There's even been an "International Fun at Work Day" created to encourage having fun at work. Social con­nec­tions play an impor­tant role when it comes to employ­ee morale. The office can set up different games such as bag races, three-legged races, volleyball and softball. A pre-match hud­dle is pop­u­lar for ath­letes — it serves to ral­ly them and get them enthused and ener­gised for the task ahead. 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. 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. 1. 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 … Let's get started! Divide employees into two teams. Once you have com­piled a list, split your employ­ees into teams and watch them work through the check­list. 12 Ways to Help Boost Team Morale. Ronda Suder All work and no play makes the office a dull place. By playing games that people associate with their childhood, you’ll boost morale and employee happiness tenfold. Google “typing test” or “one minute typing test” and you’ll find numerous websites that calculate typing speed. It will help every­one to feel more con­nect­ed and allow rela­tion­ships to devel­op and solidify. 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. 10 Fun-filled Activities to Help Boost Team Morale. 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. Plus, many classic field day games are inherent bonding games, guaranteed to bring people closer together and improve communication. Contestants cannot step on, sit on, bite, poke, or use any other implement but their hands to pop the balloons. Offer drawings and prizes for game winners. Employee engagement and team-building don’t have to be full (or half) day activities. This eBook explores how you can improve the productivity and engagement of your employees in new normal, with our 5-step productivity model. Game #1: Pick up M&Ms with chopsticks This is a great game to play as teams or individually. Instrumental music works best, as lyrics have a tendency to distract. Here’s why you should be more concerned with promoting healthy self-esteem. Alternatively, you could then play the following game. Make it a barbecue and offer fun prizes for the winners to level up the fun factor. Employee morale boosters are fast and simple ways to boost your staff’s mood and productivity. 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). 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. To increase office morale, tell your employees you’re always open to hearing their ideas. The person with the most wins. Never fear! Divide into two teams (names should reflect how you labeled the items). It's FREE to join. 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. Some com­pa­nies decide to take a seri­ous stance on issues such as obe­si­ty and imple­ment office​“Biggest Los­er” style com­pe­ti­tions and con­tests. The answer is that you can inject more fun into your office environment! It’s a collaborative game that includes intrigue and teamwork. HR professionals share low-cost ideas to boost employee morale and make other positive workplace changes. You get access to all of our courses, as well as the chance to connect with forward thinking HR professionals in our various communities. It’s harder than it sounds and you may want to see – while shooting for a minute – who can go the longest. Game #1: Pick up M&Ms with chopsticks Employee morale refers to the overall attitude and satisfaction that workers have in the workplace. Morale boosters are a great way to improve office culture and earn the benefits of team building . Create opportunities to celebrate and have some fun with your employees, like a company potluck … Plan fun non-work activities. This is a fun and engaging why to keep everyone talking and giving encouragement. The team that gets the most kidney beans and the most chickpeas in one minutes wins. 1. Employees won’t fulfill their potential or achieve their employee performance goals if they’re lacking confidence. Take the time to cel­e­brate employ­ee birth­days, even if it’s with some­thing small. 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. Treat people like people. Organ­ise a pic­nic or a bar­beque. Dis­cov­er twelve fun office games to boost morale with­out break­ing the bank below. Ice Cream Parties . This is a great team-build­ing activ­i­ty, as well as being lots of fun. Many staff would benefit from some fun office activities to boost morale. The morale boost will contribute to your business’s success. Inform them about company updates, new protocols, customer feedback, and more. Get access to the course: How to engage disengaged employees, Healther Saunders; ECITB Product Dev. Our jobs end up mean­ing a lot to us, and our careers form a big part of our iden­ti­ty. Employees are people. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. If the office does not have a budget for activities, then each employee can choose to bring his or her favorite topping. Know­ing this, it would be a great and char­i­ta­ble idea to go vol­un­teer­ing as a team — this can help employ­ees feel good about them­selves and feel con­nect­ed to one anoth­er, as well as to their community. 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. 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. Conclusion 44.Caught Ya In The Act. Office Party Games for Small Groups. Divide into two teams and then instruct teams to separate the beans into type. 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. The more trust is present in a … 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. Game #4: One-minute treasure hunt If you have a vari­ety of ques­tions and sub­ject areas, it allows employ­ees of dif­fer­ent back­grounds and tal­ents to show off their strengths. While you’re here, explore how con­tin­u­ous per­for­mance man­age­ment can boost employ­ee morale. Try incorporating fun office events into your workplace to boost morale and inspire enthusiasm after teams accomplish milestones or finish big projects. 04. Game #3: Blow up balloons 12. Con­sid­er doing some­thing sim­i­lar with your employ­ees. 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. Game #7: Buzzword This party game is a quick and fun way to organize a one or two-minute break in the workday. Popular contact centre games often involve creativity to rejuvenate agents’ minds, to boost morale and provide motivation during a repetitive routine. 1. Watch Indi­vid­ual and Team Strengths Shine with Trivia. It’s a win-win. You will need plenty of desk space and a fair amount of beans for this game but it’s a quick and fun diversion. You want your employ­ees to feel a sense of belong­ing and of being part of a tight-knit team. These rooms involve employ­ees work­ing togeth­er and divid­ing up tasks to solve a con­vo­lut­ed puz­zle, all while a clock ticks away in the back­ground. Who says work has to be all work? Send them a hand­writ­ten note, get your cowork­ers to sign a card or organ­ise a birth­day cake. Escape rooms involve employ­ees being​“locked” in a room with their col­leagues for a giv­en peri­od. Just like it sounds: Teams attempt to blow up (and tie) as many balloons as possible. 1. 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. This requires a lot of team­work, com­mu­ni­ca­tion and coop­er­a­tion, and your employ­ees will like­ly leave the room stronger and more united. Werewolf involves assigning people roles and having the “villagers” guess who the “werewolves” are before they’re attacked. Keep reading below for our blog post on the top ten teaming-building office games which can boost your office morale. For some easy and fun employee engagement ideas, see our post here or make up your own team-building game. Learn how a bizarre year catapulted performance management thinking. There is a whole host of employee engagement research out there that will help to perfect your performance management system. © 2021 Clear Review. 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. Here is a list game ideas of from the game-smiths at Waxwing Puzzle Company in Chicago. 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. ... employees are more likely to be relaxed and welcome to bonding in their homes. Game #2: One-minute typing test What’s more, it’s extreme­ly cheap to imple­ment and easy to organ­ise. 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. Write ten to twenty trivia questions on a sheet of paper (use both sides) and make enough copies for each employee. All Rights Reserved. Fitness challenges frequent here (planking and wall sits) and team competition gets fierce. As a quick morale boost­er, con­sid­er imple­ment­ing reg­u­lar sports days for your employ­ees. Employee Engagement Activities In Companies – 5 Activities To Try, Renumeration expert Rachael McCamley - interview, Top 5 busiest Human Resources forums/discussion groups. 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. 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. If you oper­ate a remote team, morale should be a huge focus for you. Small ges­tures can mean a lot to employ­ees. An ice cream social can be a fun way to bring staff members together. Gather everyone together and give everyone one minute to answer as many questions as possible. It will give them some­thing to look for­ward to and get their endor­phins flow­ing, which is a great way for them to bond. Purchase two bags of kidney beans and two bags of chickpeas (or any type of beans that differ in color or shape). Label two sets of items with team names (team 1/team 2, red team/blue team, etc.). Pick one and use it for this exercise. 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). And turn the right ones into reality. Mod­ern busi­ness­es are con­tin­u­al­ly look­ing at how to boost employ­ee morale with no cost — for­tu­nate­ly, we’ve done the leg­work for you. Triv­ia is a great way to get employ­ees to work togeth­er, while also get­ting them engaged and ener­gised. There are a lot of ben­e­fits to a hap­py employ­ee. 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. It also gives indi­vid­u­als a chance to get to know a bit more about one anoth­er. They then need to find and solve clues to allow them to escape. They are not a resource to consume. Of course, you’ll need the game Buzzword to make this work but that shouldn’t be too hard to find. to make this work but that shouldn’t be too hard to find. 50 Festive Ideas to Boost Employee Morale Year-Round Employee morale is a common buzzword in the HR industry because of the significant role it plays in daily office operations. Inter­est­ing­ly, it has been found that an act of kind­ness of any type can boost hap­pi­ness. You have to remain transparent to boost staff morale. While you’re here, explore how con­tin­u­ous per­for­mance man­age­ment can boost employ­ee morale. 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. 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. 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. Give each team one minute to find as many items as possible that contain their team name. The game is exactly as it sounds: each person attempts to keep three balloons aloft for one minute. Despite their strange names, Werewolf (also known as Mafia) and Eat Poop, You Cat are fun office games that promote team bonding. 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. That's until you give it a go in the office. Did you know that exer­cise has the abil­i­ty to improve men­tal focus and per­for­mance? 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. 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. Dur­ing the recent lock­down in the UK, many com­pa­nies have tak­en advan­tage of video con­fer­ence socials, where employ­ees get togeth­er at the end of the day or the end of the week and catch up. 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. While technically this treasure hunt game takes more than one minute, the entire game start to finish will probably take five minutes or less. If both teams get all items, the team to get all items and return to start fastest wins. 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). Game #9: Separate the beans Let people choose one: the day before, the day of, or day after their birthday. Adding fun games and ice breakers to the mix can go a long way here. Instruct participants to pick up and move as many M&Ms as possible from one bowl to another (the second bowl should be empty) in one minute using nothing but the provided chopsticks. Time each member of the team, add up the individual times, and the team that has the longest time wins. 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. Permutations abound for this game so use your imagination. Game #8: Pop the balloons Make Birthdays a Paid Holiday. The person to answer the most questions wins. 2. ... Print this and put it up on your office’s walls as a fun reminder of your team work. Be Transparent. Of course, you’ll need the game. Don’t attempt to hide problems or avoid conversations when morale is low. 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. 10. Supply a cooler of drinks and water to keep everyone hydrated. We all need a little fun at work. Use this before a larger party to make decorating easier. It's very different to normal work (unlike Game #2 so it should be very effective at cutting stress). 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's very different to normal work (unlike Game #2 so it should be very effective at cutting stress). 1. It helps to alleviate stress and build teams and relationships. Food stands that serve snow cones, popcorn, corn dogs and cotton candy are also fun. Pick a theme and let their imag­i­na­tions run wild. Barbara Glanz Biography. 30 Virtual Team Building Activities To Boost Remote Employee Morale In 2020. You can even encour­age a lit­tle friend­ly com­pe­ti­tion by pro­vid­ing prizes. So, grabbing a few drinks after work is a great way to boost morale, and bring your team together around things that are, well, not work. Game #5: One-minute trivia game 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. While everyone is out, have the office freshly painted with bright colors. It can boost morale and, more importantly, it can help spark each person’s creativity, which can be extremely beneficial for meetings. Office picnics are a classic way to boost employee morale. It is great for morale when employ­ees know that they mat­ter to their organ­i­sa­tion and that their impor­tant mile­stones aren’t overlooked. 10. This only helps those who participate, though, so encourage employees who don't want to play to attend games and cheer everyone on. Office games create an informal atmosphere which helps to create trust at the workplace, boost morale and foster engagement among your staff. 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. What’s more, certain types of music make repetitive tasks more enjoyable, improve focus, and can even make us more creative. Final Thoughts. ... (especially strategy-based games) to the table. “As a way to boost morale and encourage teamwork while we’re apart, my company has been hosting virtual trivia nights every week. Escape rooms are boom­ing in pop­u­lar­i­ty around the world, and they are now being tar­get­ed towards employ­ee and morale build­ing schemes. Cov­er progress towards organ­i­sa­tion­al goals and any rel­e­vant obsta­cles, and use the oppor­tu­ni­ty to moti­vate and inspire your employ­ees with great leadership. Divide employees into two teams. Ball Games Some companies have increased morale by signing the office up for a softball or basketball league. Start­ing an employ­ee book club can seri­ous­ly help to unite your work­force and boost employ­ee engage­ment. Boost Office Morale: Team-Building Games & Activities. The team that gets the most items wins. Your birthday is like your own personal holiday. Themed office days allow employ­ees to be a lit­tle cre­ative with their ensem­bles. 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. Offer prizes for second and third as well. This idea, submitted by Steven, incorporates this principle, and the object of the game is to have agents pretend they … Keep reading for 5 effective ways to boost employee morale and keep boredom from settling in. We can have fun outside of the office. 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. Arrange a Scavenger Hunt A scavenger hunt may seem like a children's game. With improved morale comes increased team­work, greater lev­els of reten­tion and improved pro­duc­tiv­i­ty. Once a month, set a book title and a time and place where your team will meet to dis­cuss a book. This is a great game to play as teams or individually. These are all simple, yet effective ways of bringing a little fun into the work place, and to help boost employee morale. If possible, find a website that factors in mistakes and backspaces for a more of a challenge – here is one http://www.typingtest.com/ . Dis­cov­er twelve fun office games to boost morale with­out break­ing the bank below. Nothing quite sets the mood like music, making it a fun and easy way to improve morale in any office setting. 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. To boost morale, con­sid­er host­ing a fam­i­­ly-friend­­ly event or out­ing dur­ing work hours. Shrewd managers understand the importance of team-building exercises. We spend so long at work that our cowork­ers become a sec­ond fam­i­ly. 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. Albert Einstein might have summarized it in the best way: “Play is the highest form of research”. But don’t just assume that your staff will have a blast at any outside-the-office … 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). 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. Get your team out of the office occasionally for a totally unique and different activity, like volunteering for a day at Habitat for Humanity. Game #6: Keep 3 balloons aloft for one minute These one-minute game ideas can be interspersed throughout the day for a welcome diversion from the stress and strain of a hectic work environment. Make sure to have PLENTY of balloons on hand and get two different colors to make counting easier. The activities and tips on this list improve performance and create a more pleasant work atmosphere. Encourage In-Office Play. This is a quick and easy way to play a game with your employees. 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. But it stinks for employee morale. 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.