This year’s Fun at Work Day ideas were different than those in the past. Our small office party planning committee was going above and beyond, planning a trip to a local escape room for everyone local. Any remote employees that wanted to join virtually could do so via a tablet or smartphone.
We aren’t a group of employees that are strangers to fun office activities. As a team we often plan trivia nights, snack-catered parties, and board game luncheons, but going off-property was new to all of us. We wondered if anyone would have anxiety or panic at the prospect of being locked in with people we were already with 40 hours a week on a Friday night. Still, nonetheless, we were sick of employee engagement fun activities in office and were ready to get out!
Jackie heard of the local escape room near our NY office location on a website for employee party planners searching for fun group activities. The website reviews said it wasn’t too scary or complicated, so we collected RSVPs and secured several reservations, as we had to break up into teams.
Deciding who would be on which team turned out to be something similar to high school gym class. People argued about who would be on which team, and we had to name team captains and pick names out of hats. When that was finally settled, groups began gathering together to discuss their strategies for approaching the escape room.
Typically, phones aren’t allowed, but the escape room staff made an exception for our remote employees, though they were strictly forbidden to help us, and we were forbidden to use our phones. As the day grew closer, the competitive nature emerged in everyone, and office arguments were popping up everywhere.
Fun at Work Day Ideas for Employees
Our typical Fun at Work Day ideas for employees did not include an escape room. As we watched people argue about teams and how they would execute their strategies, we wondered if this was a good idea. We weren’t convinced that the teams with remote employees as a member wouldn’t cheat, and we needed to figure out how to prevent that. Since the winning prize was a swag package from SwagMagic, we wanted to ensure the win was deserved.
At one of the planning meetings, someone pointed out that maybe we should cancel the whole escape room idea and just plan for fun games at work as we did in the past. Employee engagement games were always popular among our staff, but we wanted to please those looking forward to the escape room and a night out.
We decided to hold a company-wide meeting to make a final decision. We would take a vote, management included, and figure out whether the escape room would be a good idea. Well, the meeting went differently than we expected. Half of the team voted yes, and half voted no, and yet another fight erupted.
Needless to say, management wasn’t pleased.
Fun at Work Day Gift Ideas
Our Fun at Work Day gift ideas faded as the whole office fought over a typical office party or the escape room. Eventually, management had to step in with their Fun Day at Work ideas. The escape room seemed like something that probably wouldn’t happen as accusations of potential cheating shot across the room.
We really wanted to come up with inexpensive employee engagement ideas that would allow us to come together outside of the office, but things weren’t looking too good. Management said no to the escape room, as they decided it was pushing people apart instead of bringing them together.
Fun Day at Work Games
The party planning committee returned to square one, planning Fun at Work Day games and Fun at Work Day online games to include our virtual team. As we outlined some Fun at Work Day games for team building, we discussed where everything went wrong.
We landed on the fact that Steve and Tim were on separate teams, and because one was a copywriter and the other was a web designer, they couldn’t get along. So, we moved forward with fun office games to boost morale and quick fun office games to bring people together, Steve and Tim included.
Fun at Work Day Activities
We chose prizes for our Fun at Work Day activities, all from SwagMagic and SnackMagic, as we knew our employees would appreciate it. We got enough items that Steve and Tim wouldn’t argue more and planned Fun at Work Day Activities for team building to bring everyone back together who were still arguing over the escape room.
The small fun activities for employees in office, like Twister and a giant checkerboard, proved to be fruitful in bringing people back together. Though we couldn’t do the escape room, we had a successful day!
Have Fun at Work Day Virtual Games
Our remote staff, who swore they wouldn’t cheat in the escape room, felt excluded from our Fun at Work Day virtual activities. We began planning Fun at Work Day online activities for the remote team, asking for their input on Fun at Work Day virtual games.
They gave us plenty of options for fun activities for online meetings, and the online component of our fun day was also an enormous success. Management was pleased and advised us only to plan another off-property event again if it was a catered dinner.
Employee Fun with SwagMagic
SwagMagic saved the day, turning our traditional employee fun day into a successful event. With sweatshirts and t-shirts representing the copywriting and design teams, Tim and Steve struck a truce and stopped arguing. Snack boxes from SnackMagic kept everyone full and satisfied, and there was enough for employees to bring the extras home.
We shipped out prizes and gifts to the remote team, who reported back that everything was fantastic. Overall, our fun day in the office enabled more team-building opportunities than the escape room, and we even saved a little bit of money!
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