As a small business owner, you already know that the primary focus in the workplace lies in successfully achieving business objectives at the individual, team, and organizational levels. However, sometimes this tunnel vision can make you lose sight of the fact that your business can operate more successfully when you incorporate fun and entertainment into your organizational culture. Adding this element is easy and can result in short-term as well as long-term benefits for your business.
Here are some fun ideas for the workplace:
- Casual dress days are a simple and popular option to add some variation to your workweek and show that you value your employees’ comfort.
- Charter a bus to attend a Broadway show or sports event, even if the employees partially or fully bear the costs.
- If you have a spacious office, you could set up a games corner to encourage interaction and healthy competition between co-workers. Invest in a billiard table, some old-school pinball machines, or popular board games like Scrabble or Chess.
- Combine fun and fitness through healthy and exciting team exercises such as group fitness classes, mindfulness and yoga sessions, a Pilates class for the women, or a jog for a cause.
- If your employees have a sweet tooth, why not organize a bake-off? Challenge your best bakers to show off their talents for a reward or donate the proceeds to charity to spread the sweetness with others!
- Create opportunities to socialize outside the workplace, too! We spend more time with our colleagues than we do with our friends or family; why not get to know your co-workers better? Organize a trip to the beach or a picnic in the park where employees can mingle.
- You can introduce bake-off’s savory cousin: The Grill-Off. An ideal office fundraiser for the summertime and an excellent choice for all the barbecue enthusiasts. (Be sure to include a vegetarian category, so no one feels left out)