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At bswift, we take fun very seriously. In fact, "More Fun" is one of our core corporate values (along with "Higher Standards" and "Greater Accountability"). Why? Because we firmly believe that engaging employees in a fun and appreciative workplace not only boosts morale and strengthens company culture, but it can also increase productivity and impact the bottom line.

100 Ways to Have Fun at Work

Here are some of our favorite ideas for ways to have fun at work. Some of these ideas come from bswift’s CFO ("Chief Fun Officer,"), Patrick McGarrity, and many come from our buddy Scott Christopher who wrote a great book called "The Levity Effect: Why It Pays to Lighten Up." Be sure to check out Scott’s book at www.levityeffect.com.

1. Weekly Jeopardy: at noon once a week, gather in a conference or cubical for a couple rounds of Jeopardy (use a Jeopardy day-to-day desk calendar). The highest scorer takes the Jeopardy trophy for the week and gets to choose the first category the following week.
2. Wii Bowling Tournament: create teams that allow people from different departments to get to know each other. Crown a “King Pin” and “Queen Pin” and award gift certificates prizes.
3. Kids Come Into Work Day: to draw on the whiteboard, play Wii and join everyone for pizza at lunch. Employees take turns being “Camp Counselor” for an hour.
4. Summer Kickball After Work: in a nearby park or parking lot. No need for formal leagues or uniforms – just show up and feel like a kid again.
5. Quarterly Potluck Lunch: with a different fun theme each time. Charge $3 and give the proceeds to a local charity.
6. Jeans Day for Charity: sell tickets for $2 each that allow the purchaser to wear jeans to work on a specified day of the week. For example at bswift, each ticket is good for wearing jeans on Wednesdays during April. Proceeds go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
7. Michael Jackson Trivia Contest: the winner gets tickets to a local event or movie or a copy of "This Is It" on DVD.
8. Executives Breakfast: upon meeting a specified departmental or company goal, get the executives to put on an apron and start frying up the bacon and flipping pancakes.
9. Cubicle Decoration Contest: choose a theme and award prizes for the best cubicle decorations.
10. Paint a Break Room with Chalkboard Paint: this idea comes from Whole Foods where employees can doodle on the walls and one store team leader even writes up her weekly updates rather than sending out a memo.
11. Surprise Movie Outings: the bswift CEO called a mandatory all-company meeting on a Friday afternoon and arranged for temps to answer the phones. At the meeting, he announced that he was taking everyone to see “Friday Night Lights” at a nearby movie theater. It was an inspiring movie and a good way to “rally the troops” during a stressful business season.
12. Pumpkin Carving Contest: buy some pumpkins and some carving knives. Everyone votes and the winner gets a Starbucks’ gift card. Extra points for those who carve the likeness of a member of the management team.
13. Cinco de Mayo Party: have margaritas and a piñata. Nothing relieves stress or gets more laughs that whacking a donkey with a bat.
14. Ethnic Food Night: what started as a group of employees going out for Korean BBQ one night has expanded to organized outings to different ethnic food restaurants in Chicago – often with a company “expert” along to explain the offerings. It’s fun to a have multi-cultural employee population!
15. Sitcom Lunches: weekly gatherings to watch favorite shows such as "30 Rock" or "The Office" over lunch.
16. Massage Therapy Breaks: during bswift's busy season, we bring in a couple of massage therapists for one or two days and anyone can sign up for a 15 minute massage.
17. Anniversary Gifts: at the bswift annual company kick-off meeting/holiday party in January, we announce the names of all employees celebrating their 5th anniversary, describe what special talents they have brought to the table and give them their choice of gifts: Apple iPod, Patagonia jacket, etc.
18. Video Monitors: bswift has flat screen TV's throughout the office that rotate pictures from recent fun events, announce upcoming events, post “Fun Facts” and more.
19. Wall of Fame: create a Wall of Fame decorated with pictures of team members, thank-you notes from clients and other feel-good postings.
20. Bowling Night: to kick off the beginning a busy season or to celebrate reaching a goal, do a group bowling night with pizza, beer and a good jukebox.
21. 2 Truths & 1 Lie: to start a meeting with a bang, ask everyone to come up with two truths about themselves and one lie. People must guess which one is the lie.
22. Oh Say Can You See: start a meeting with the singing of the national anthem and give a prize to anyone who can sing it without missing a word (or missing the high note).
23. Joke of the Day: have department members take turns telling a "Joke of the Day" at meetings.
24. Song of the Day: to be blasted out at a set time in the afternoon. Try to make it describe what’s going on that day, special events or just an upbeat song to fire people up.
25. Trading Places: have the CEO or other high-level executive switch places with an employee for a day and cover the story in an employee newsletter or – better yet – on video.
26. Homemade Food Contests: chili cook-offs, cookie bake-offs, etc.
27. Office Book Club: that meets weekly or monthly over lunch.
28. Rock On!: create an office rock band. At Bain & Company, the "Bain Band " performs at least once a year during company meetings and other special events.
29. Karaoke Lunch: there's nothing funnier than watching your boss belt out "My Sharona. " Have a talent contest with contestants and judges and give the winners gift cards for a free lunch.
30. Ice Cream Man!: in the summer, bring in an ice cream truck or shaved ice truck onsite.
31. Tailgate Party: who needs a stadium? Start the grill up in the parking lot on a Friday afternoon.
32. The Great Outdoors: get a "fresh " perspective by holding a meeting outside or at a local park.
33. Texas Hold ‘Em: hold a tournament with refreshments and prizes on-site or at someone’s house.
34. Third Thursday: every 3rd Thursday of the month, go to a local watering hole to celebrate achievements, anniversaries or just making it through another month.
35. Family Ice Skating: rent an hour at a local rink and invite employees and their families to come hit the ice.
36. Roller Hockey: hold weekly roller hockey games in the company parking lot.
37. Local Runs/Walks: encourage everyone to participate together in local runs and walks and reward participants with post-race refreshments or a picnic. This works to promote corporate wellness programs as well as have fun and develop camaraderie.
38. Live Music: put a piano in the break room for whoever wants to play a few tunes or start a sing-a-long.
39. Scrabble Breaks: have a game that goes on throughout the day(s).
40. Trivia Breaks or Trivia Night: including questions about company products and history. This is a great way to have fun as well as make sure that folks know their stuff.
41. Brainstorming Money Machine: to get the creative juices flowing in a brainstorming session, write down ideas on a white board then have everyone vote on their favorite 3 ideas. The winners get one minute in a rented money machines filled with some bills. (You don't have to actually use the ideas, but it rewards people for getting involved).
42. Give Yourself a Hand: on a deadline day, hand out plastic hand-clappers at the end of the day and have everyone give themselves a hand for a job well done.
43. Mini Golf: set up a mini golf course in the office.
44. Hire a Comedian: Instead of using the CEO as emcee at your next company event, hire a professional comedian.
45. Car Wash: get the executive team to hold a car wash and scrub every employee’s car in the lot.
46. Trading Places II: Have employees elect a new manager from their ranks to take the reins for a day. The existing manager does that employee’s work for the day.
47. Spread the Fun: be sure to share "fun " ideas company wide by covering events in your company newsletter or on your company Web site.
48. Scavenger Hunt: create teams and send them on a scavenger hunt around town. The hunt ends at a local bar or restaurant for drinks and prizes.
49. Take Me Out to the Ball Game: you might not be able to take employees to opening day, but you can celebrate by bringing in a hot dog cart for lunch or organizing a potluck with hot dogs, burgers, popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy etc.
50. Get Organized: create a Fun Committee within departments and/or companywide and rotate membership. This is the best way to get people involved and to ensure that the "fun" is really fun and not just another set of top-down directives.

Want to see more?! Check back each week as we post more ideas from our "100 Ways to Have More Fun at Work" list. The complete list will be posted on May 20th when we'll announce the winner of the bswift Fun at Work Award at our annual Client Conference in Chicago.