If there’s any year when we should be celebrating March’s Employee Spirit Month, it is 2021. It’s been such a long and trying year of social distancing, mask wearing, and Zoom gatherings (and oh-so-much hand sanitizer), we could all use a boost of fun. And while it’s a challenge to come up with ways to celebrate “employee spirit” while still thinking of social distancing, mask wearing, and Zoom gatherings, we’re up for the challenge.
So we’ve been brainstorming ways to make the most of this unofficial “holiday” and have come up with 12 ways to celebrate Employee Spirit Month. Maybe you will want to try some of these ideas too?
1. Give your employees something special that will make people feel valued and appreciated—sweatshirts or jackets with the company name, logo’d baseball caps, branded YETI mugs, custom M&M’s, Dunkin’ gift cards, or even a bonus afternoon off! It doesn’t have to be expensive, but maybe skip the logo’d stress ball, desk paperweight, or hand sanitizer.
2. Depending on the size of your office, announce an “Employee of the Month“. If they are particularly beloved, use an affordable service like VidHug to upload video messages from coworkers and present the finished video at the end of the month.
3. Host a virtual “lunch and learn” where your team watches something educational (yet entertaining!) together and discusses afterward. Bonus if you also buy the lunch.
4. Play “two truths and a lie” online or in person before your next status meeting. You can learn a lot about each other in a fun way.
5. Host a Zoom scavenger hunt—give employees a list of things to find in their workspace and then say GO. Whoever comes back to their computer with everything first wins. Another idea: Take a cue from “Let’s Make A Deal” and ask employees to find one odd thing in their workspace, like a purple paper clip or potted plant.
6. If you are back in the office and have a creative crew, hold a contest for best decorated office door or cubicle. Give employees a theme (beach vacation! St. Patrick’s Day!) or set rules like “can only use office supplies as decor”, and see what they create.
7. Take a virtual vacations. Since we still aren’t traveling anywhere (sob!), during each week’s status meeting have someone share 5-10 photos from a vacation spot they’ve visited.
8. Set up a fun Slack channel or email thread to discuss something totally unrelated to work: #netflix to talk about shows we’re watching; #hobbies to share things we do in our spare time.
9. Take a weekly 15-minute virtual coffee break this month to just check in (or do this Friday at the end of the day and call it “happy minutes”).
10. Ask someone to provide a movie or television review at the start of a meeting.
11. Together, create “Top 10” lists about the South Shore (top 10 restaurants; top 10 day trips; top 5 beaches; favorite walks or bike rides, etc). Expect some spirited discussion!
12. Spontaneously close early one (or more) Friday this month and give people a few bonus hours to themselves (with pay, of course).
The key to celebrating employee spirit is to pick only things that feel natural to your company’s culture. Don’t try to force too much onto your employees’ days. Instead, look for easy ways to build in a few laughs and unexpected acts of kindness to the people who keep your business running so smoothly.
Want to add some smart, creative people to your own organization? We can help you with that!