6 Easy Ways to Have Fun and Boost Morale at Work

There’s no law on the books that says work needs to be boring. And the more fun an office is, the more likely employees are to look forward to heading to work each day.

Is your office a fun place to be? Even if it is, you can almost certainly make a few changes here and there to make it that much more enjoyable. And if you’re drawing a blank on how to have more fun at work, here are six ideas:

1. Have a chili cook-off

Who’s the best chef hiding among your team’s ranks? There’s only one way to find out: Host a chili cook-off to see who can make the meanest and most delicious batch. (To be fair, there are other ways to find out who the best chef on your team is, but chili cook-offs are pretty fun and are actually doable.)

2. Hang up seasonal decorations

Sitting around the same stagnant office day in and day out can get a little depressing. So why not enliven your team’s work space by routinely redecorating it? You don’t have to do anything insanely major. But you can invite employees to help spruce up your office each spring, summer, fall, and winter, for example. In addition to changing things up, such an activity doubles as a team-building exercise. What’s not to like?

3. Allow dogs in the office

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Assuming no one on your team is deathly allergic to dogs — and your office doesn’t need to be completely spotless à la a clean room — there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t allow your employees to bring their pets to work. In addition to simply being fun to have dogs around, science says workers who take their dogs to the office are less stressed.

4. Host a monthly catered lunch

In our Employee Engagement Report, we uncovered the fact that coworkers are the number one thing employees like about their jobs. So why not create situations to encourage your team members to get to know each other even better? It might not be possible for everyone to eat lunch at the same time every week, but you can likely set aside one day — say the third Thursday of the month — to buy your team a delicious lunch and encourage them to relax and mingle.

5. Encourage walking meetings

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Sitting down in meeting after meeting can not only get incredibly boring, it can be bad for your health. But there’s a quick fix: the walking meeting. Instead of heading to the same old conference room day after day and week after week, take advantage of the outdoors when the weather is nicer. Not only will you be able to tackle your entire agenda during walking meetings, but your staff will be more energized and more creative.

6. Build a game room

From time to time, everyone needs to take a break to recharge their batteries. Why not make those breaks as enjoyable as you can for your team? If space allows, consider remodeling one of your unused conference rooms or empty offices into a game room. Throw a Ping-Pong table in there, some couches, maybe even an Xbox. It’s safe to say fun will become a regular part of the workweek.

As the old saying goes, laughter is the best medicine. And when your workforce is stressed, why not offer ways for people to de-stress and recharge?

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