It’s that time of year when people are getting together to celebrate the holidays. But what fun activities for employees could you organize to bring some holiday cheer to your team?
Here are some suggestions that are low-effort and low-cost. Even if you’re organizing things last minute or on a budget, we’ve got something that will work for you.
Why should you organize fun activities for employees?
While you should never make employee activities mandatory—or make anyone feel like they’re mandatory—offering fun activities for employees shows your team you see them as more than just a number in your accounting software.
They’re humans who choose to spend their time with you, working for you, and you appreciate their presence. Planning fun activities for employees is a small way to say “thank you”.
These types of initiatives can also work as team-building activities. They create a sense of camaraderie that helps build better communication and collaboration. Which ensures that projects run more smoothly when different teams have to work together.
Getting to know each other outside of work prevents the competitiveness that can come from teams wanting different things, too. If they like each other, they’re far more likely to want to compromise than if they see the other teams within a project as the enemy.
Fun activities for employees working remotely this holiday season
Console gaming tournament
We’ve all played MarioKart at some point, right? Whether you play in-person or online, a game tournament gives your employees the opportunity to spend time with their colleagues outside of the pressure of work and hone their gaming skills.
Games are also great for building skills like communication and coordination.
Movie night
You can’t go wrong with a movie night. It’s a classic. Especially if you’re watching something nostalgic like The Mummy (1999, obviously) or The Mummy Returns, The Breakfast Club, Practical Magic, etc.
Watching nostalgic films can boost people’s moods, as can discussing them. Making a nostalgic movie night the perfect way for your employees to bond. It’s an easy and effective addition to any list of fun activities for employees.
Book club
Just like movie nights, book clubs are great ways for people to bond.
If your employees are busy, instead of forcing them to read a set book, you could ask them to bring along something they’ve enjoyed and share what they enjoyed about it. Or even what they disliked!
I’ve found this low-pressure version of a book club means people are more likely to show up. They can come feeling relaxed as it doesn’t matter if they haven’t read the book of the month. It often leads to attendees finding new books to read and enjoy, too. Perhaps even ones they never would’ve considered before.
As far as fun activities for employees go, this one offers the added brain boost of encouraging team members to read rather than scrolling online.
Trivia night
Trivia nights are a fun way to encourage collaboration between different teams and departments. Especially if the quizmaster chooses the teams rather than employees defaulting to their usual groups (which, let’s face it, everyone will!).
Gingerbread house competition
The holidays are the perfect time to build gingerbread. And eat it, obviously.
A gingerbread house competition enables your employees to show their creative (and competitive!) sides.
You could even bring your social media audience into it, asking them to vote for their favorites. It’s one of the fun activities for employees that’s a simple way to show off your company culture and build your employer brand.
Next year you could do pumpkins, too!
Stranger Things watch-along
If enough of your employees are into Stranger Things, why not organize for them to watch it virtually together? Or meet up to discuss it and share theories when they’ve watched each part?
It’s one of the last shows that everyone has seen—or at least knows about. This makes it perfect for water cooler chat. And for planning fun activities for employees around.
Fun activities for employees to do in-person this holiday season
Poetry slam
A poetry slam is a fun way for people to discover new ways to express themselves, improve their communication, and maybe even boost their public speaking confidence.
There’s a type of poetry and poetry reading for everyone. Whether you want something intense and emotional or chill and thought-provoking, there’s a way to cater fun activities for employees to it.
Bowling, pool, darts, etc.
Games like these are simple yet effective.
I always say I dislike bowling but then enjoy going once I’m there (despite almost always losing).
So long as everyone keeps it light-hearted and doesn’t take it too seriously, it’s one of the fun activities for employees that can help people get to know colleagues outside of the office.
Desk decorations
The holidays are the perfect time to decorate desks, so why not invite employees to do just that? You could even give a prize to the desk(s) voted the best!
Or invent your own categories, so everyone gets a prize! What looks good is subjective, after all.
Prizes don’t have to be anything big. Just some treats or a small gift card to make their holidays a little sweeter.
Live performance trip
It’s impossible to please everyone when organizing an outing to see a performance. If you have an office near a venue though, you could try organizing some fun activities for employees around their events. Whether it’s a comedy show, concert, or other type of performance, it’s a great way to help team members connect around a shared experience.
It gives those with similar tastes something to talk about other than work. That can help with cooperation, collaboration, and communication across teams. It’s also great for giving everyone a screen break!
Arcade night
Who doesn’t love a good, old-fashioned arcade? I tried playing Pacman myself once and have to say it was pretty terrible. But playing those kinds of games with other people is a fun, retro way to bond.
Plenty of places still have old-school arcades you can play on, too. And with the return of Stranger Things, who knows? They might make a big comeback. (I can dream. So that I can improve my Pacman game).
Conclusion
Fun activities for employees don’t just have to be for the holiday season, but including them at this time of year, when it’s cold and dreary for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, brightens the mood and gives team members something to look forward to.
If organizing fun activities for employees sounds like a lot, though, we get it. Workrowd can help. With a central hub for all your events and programs, automated reminders and follow-up surveys, and even analytics, everyone can make the most of the holidays, and your full employee experience throughout the year.
Get in touch to find out more about how Workrowd could support your employee initiatives this holiday season and beyond.
