Work may not be all fun and games (especially right now) but it is okay to have fun with your staff from time to time. All work all the time creates a monotonous, dull work environment. This will lower morale and cause higher stress overall. Break up the day to day by having fun with your team. This will likely decrease stress, break down walls and give you and your team an opportunity to bond. Here are 5 unique ways to have fun with your team.

Celebrate an Odd Holiday

National Donut Day, National Video Game Day, National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, there’s even a National Have Fun at Work Day (Jan. 28^th)…There is literally an odd holiday for practically everything. Get creative and find a fun, bizarre holiday to celebrate and go all out! Decorate, create games, bring prizes… the more over the top, the better.

Use Social Events as Opportunities

GAME DAY! The world Cup finals, An Important Football Game, The Finale/Premier of a Popular show, find out what your team is talking about and Host a watch party. You can create teams for each employee to choose from (“Team Jackie”, “Team USA, etc.), get party favors, get snacks or have it at a restaurant where everyone can get their own food and drinks. The point is to bring everyone together for something they are all interested in that is not work related to have a good time,build memories and decompress.

Secret Scavenger Hunt

Create a scavenger hunt throughout the office but don’t tell anyone about it. Instead just place little sticky notes all over the office for people to find with clues that will lead them to the prize. Watch your team discover the clues and see if they work as a team or try to figure it out themselves. Write on the back of each sticky note the number of clues so they know what else they need to find (example: Clue 1 of 10). This way they will have to communicate with each other to find the missing clues.

Have an end of the quarter awards ceremony

Invite your team to dinner in their honor. Talk about all the great things they have done, any goals that have been achieved and then give out silly awards to each employee that is specific to them. For example, Jane gets the “black hole award” for never being able to find anything on her desk.

Build a Banana Split

Create a list of quarterly goals and put those goals on a giant banana split for the bulletin board. Each piece, the bowl, different ice cream flavors, syrup, whipped cream and cherry holds a different goal. Each time your team achieves a goal they get to add a piece of the banana split to the board. At the end of the quarter (or year), hold an ice cream social for your team where they can build their own sundaes according to the ingredients they earned through achieving goals. It’s a fun way to keep everyone engaged and focused during the quarter as well as a fun way to celebrate their hard work at the end.

These are just a few of the unique ways you as a manager can have fun with your team. Even if you have a fast paced office, there are ways to engage your employees in a way that will relieve stress and add a little laughter to the day. It is important that we remember to decompress from time to time so we don’t get overwhelmed or burned out. What are some other ways you like to have fun with your team?