According to a study by Harvard Business Review and The Energy Project, enabling employees to have fun at work makes them feel happier and healthier.
Team activities are a great way to have fun! Plus, they help connect, engage and reward your team. But things can get expensive – fast. We would love to fly our team somewhere exotic just as much as the nest company, but we don’t have the budget for it. Many small businesses can relate.
Here are 5 fun team activities that won’t break the bank:
1. Office Potluck
Meals are a great way to connect.Lunch breaks are an important time to refresh and recharge during the day. With busy to do lists, we’re seeing a growing trend of employees opting out of taking a full lunch break. Encourage your team to pause, come together and eat by hosting an office potluck!
Pro tip: We love setting themes for our office potlucks. A few of our favourites include: favourite dish from your childhood, Taco Tuesday, salad bar, dips.
2. Board Game Night
Pass GO and collect $200. Host a board game night in your office. Supply some snacks and let the fun create itself!
Pro tip: Card games and group board games like Apples to Apples and Sequence are perfect for large groups!
3. Office Yoga
Morning, lunch or afternoon. Yoga is a great way to help your team refresh on a busy work day. Team not into yoga? Try a simple 2-minute stretch break mid-afternoon. Their muscles (and your insurance premiums) will thank you!
Pro tip: Ask around your office to see if you have any resident yogis. Our Talent + Growth Manager Aislinn is a certified yoga instructor.
4. Karaoke
Showcase your team’s talent! All it takes is a screen, music and people with the confidence to belt out their favourite tunes!
Pro tip: YouTube plays host to karaoke versions of most of your favourite songs. Don’t stop believing!
5. Volunteer Together
Get your team motivated by giving back at work. The Center for Talent Innovation has found that high-potential employees who volunteer are happy, and are of healthy mind. Get your team together to volunteer at your local food bank. Or participate as a group to support an important cause like mental health or cancer.
Pro tip: A couple of our team’s favourite volunteer opportunities are the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup and Jack.org.
Surefire ways to get your team engaged in team activities:
- Ask your team what types of activities they want to do. There are few things more painful than spending a lot of time, effort and resources to plan something, only to find out that nobody wants to participate. Team not into yoga? No problem – there are lots of other activities to choose from
- Stop calling it “team bonding” and “engagement”. At the crux of it, we’re all just people, working with people, wanting to connect with people.
- Encourage your team to choose! Bottom-up selection of team activities yields higher Your team is (hopefully) diverse. Meaning it’s unlikely that everyone will enjoy the same things. Encourage your team to vote to choose activities.
- Under Promise, Over Deliver. It’s pretty simple: do what you say you’re going to do. We’re big fans of going above and beyond in our quest to delight. Give it a try!
- Set a budget, and stick to it. It’s easy for team activities to get expensive. Don’t forget to plan for those extra little costs (like parking and taxi fare).