Having Fun at Work!
If you own a small business, you know that your employees? attitude can directly affect the quality of the service and customer care you provide. Customers can usually sense if the staff is happy, content, bored or annoyed. By making an effort to ensure that employee morale remains high, you'll be taking steps to create a better company.
There are hundreds of ways to make being at work fun, but some of the most simple and cost effective ones are still the best! Everyone loves potluck lunches and themed lunches provided by the company. Decorating the office for holidays and giving everyone candy for Valentines or providing green treats for St. Patrick's Day always puts a smile on everyone's face as well! Also, anytime you can get together for lunch or dinner off site, it is a big treat. Another great idea is "movie and popcorn" night, many of the theaters have a group discount and even rooms to have pizza or hot dogs before the movie, as another option.
Another mood elevator is playing games at lunch time. Have some "fast games" in the break room such as checkers, Connect Four, playing cards, Yahtzee, Nerf basketball, etc. Even kids games, like Pick Up Sticks, and Barrel of Monkeys can be a fun and quick diversion. When weather allows, it's great to have tables and chairs outside for lunches and even having meetings outdoors is a great idea! The best way to find out what your associates would like is to have a meeting, specifically to decide as a group what activities would add an element of fun to work.
Quick and Easy "Acts of Fun"
Have a "funny hat" day, even people who don't like to dress up, will find a fun hat to wear.
Hold a paper plane contest, the winner being the person to have their plane fly the furthest.
Give everyone silly putty and give them 15 minutes to do something fun with it and give a prize to the winner.
Have noisemakers at meetings (hooters, whistles, clickers) which everyone has to use before they speak. Take votes with "All those in favor, make a noise". Even more fun, add something funny, like a rubber duck, that everyone has to hold while they are speaking.