spirit week ideas for work during covid

The benefit of virtual dress up days is that employees can don elaborate costumes without worrying about travel, comfort, or attracting strange stares in Starbucks. Get advice from seasoned professionals about all your compliance questions and concerns. Hence, "Employee of the month" programs are a great way to show your best employees that you see their hard work and appreciate the efforts they are putting in. The day-to-day work life might get hectic and tedious for everyone in the office. Even a small gesture like a "thank you" goes a long way to boost productivity, increase performance and improve morale among the workforce. Student creates quarantine spirit week, brings people together Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of Instead, health promotion ensures that your staff actually want and like to be at work. By hosting your fundraisers online, you can reach new supporters both near and far from your school without needing to leave your desk. Now more than ever, we need to lean on each other for support. I recently asked Ask a Manager readers to share how their teams are observing the holidays in lieu of in-person parties this year, and it turns out companies have gotten really creative. The intensive schedule prevents routine responsibilities from interrupting the fun, and permits employees to focus on recharging and team bonding. Check the COVID-19 page on your city or county website to find out if you can sign up to offer your time this way. This will allow team members to truly appreciate each other, leading to better team building. Click here to find out how. Challengers can play the games directly in the channel, or via direct message. Then, after that, we had the opportunity to go into breakout roomslast year, one room did Schitts Creek trivia (it was a favorite among many staffers), another did Pictionary using the annotate functions of Zoom. I write about how to improve team and leadership performance. #StayStrongWF Spirit Week April 6-10. Perhaps the best gift to give your employees is recognizing your employees publicly for a great job done. Spirit week attendees can either make their own backgrounds using Canva or Photoshop, or can download one from online. Not to fear: There are plenty of Halloween-inspired crafts to go around. Are your employee motivated to come to work every single day? How to advocate for yourself at work during COVID-19. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Teammates could also give a short slideshow presentation of their home cities. According to Harvard Business Review writer Anthony K. TJan: Company leadership should embrace, promote and value mentoring programs to realize a return on investment. Innovative Holiday and Winter Gatherings in the Time of COVID-19 Were working with local restaurants (some minority-owned) to provide cold reheatable family meals that our employees will take home to enjoy with their family. Kicking their feet up on the couch and zoning out in front of the TV could be just what the essential workers in your life need after dealing with the public . From theme days to care packages to costume contests, here is a list of fun ways to celebrate spirit weeks in remote offices. Want to give someone the gift that keeps on giving? At checkout the price was zero and you couldnt even enter a tip. Virtual talent shows double as entertainment and team bonding. Their office is infused with fun, including random Razor scooters available to any staff who think better while in motion. 29. This is one of the most underrated employee appreciation ideas out there. Many of us now look forward to Mondays because of these hilarious crosswords! Ive gotten a lot of reports of teams doing remote crafting sessions togetheroften around seasonal themes, like gingerbread houses: Our office is planning two optional events. Use virtual coffee breaks to: Limit e-mail, insteaduse real-time, in person communication tools such as Skype, Zoom, etc., or even the old fashioned phone. PDF Getting your workplace ready for COVID-19 - World Health Organization One is a gingerbread house session where theyll send you the kit, walk you through assembly, and then you can decorate with the provided candy and icing or your own. It is easier than ever to show your appreciation from the monthly Netflix fix to news and magazines. Add some seriously "tricked out" kitchens on each floor of their facilities. Spirit week is a week-long event that promotes company pride and employee engagement through fun activities. When you actually take the time out to get involved with them personally, employees feel that you genuinely care about them. Celebrated on the first Friday in March, it pays homage to each employee's contribution to their company. Keep Little Hands Busy. Distance does not have to put a damper on the fun. Streaming service subscriptions. 7 Summer Spirit Week Ideas for the Office | Lands' End Things to do: 100 indoor activities if you're not feeling social yet Simply post a different game or prompt on the company social channels every day, and instruct employees to respond using a special hashtag. Remote teams can dress up for remote meetings, even if their outfits wont be on display all day. 18 Parent-Teacher Association Fundraising Ideas For During (And After Hosting online costume contests is one of the best spirit week dress up ideas for work. 14 Spirit Week Ideas That Kids Of All Ages Can Get Into - Romper What every woman needs to know during COVID-19 - Lean In Photo illustration by Slate. 2023 teambuilding.com, all rights reserved | Terms | Privacy, virtual tours of museums, zoos, and parks, list of free virtual team building activities for work, list of the best remote team outing ideas, Post a picture from your first year at the company vs now, Take a screenshot in the unlikeliest Zoom meeting spot, Film a 30-second work from home snack cooking lesson, Dress-up accessories, like sunglasses, boas, and novelty headbands, Create a collaborative world map showing which countries team members have lived in or traveled to, Ask participants to compile top 5 travel bucket lists of the destinations they would most like to visit, and pair up teammates with similar interests for a video chat, Video chat with screen pals in different countries, Compile a photo slideshow of the teams collective travels, Most likely to forget to mute/unmute the mic, Lightning fingers, aka fastest Slack replies, Most likely to binge cat videos during the workday. To set the mood, you can encourage attendees to dress up and don fancy virtual backgrounds. 4. Spirit Week ideas for busy offices should include low-maintenance events that require minimal planning from event organizers and the participants. Some ideas for your 30-minute morning check-ins include: Establish virtual coffee chats with individual team members. The tours could happen on a single day, or throughout the week. Revamp your break room. Ensure that everyone gets that attention. Working from home can be challenging. SWAG stands for "stuff we all get." Children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years need at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity daily. Offering extra time off pretty much never goes amiss, especially at this time of year: In lieu of bonuses and parties and all sorts of things, my employer is just closing for the week in between Christmas and New Years and giving everyone the time offits been a hit, because thats usually a huge use of vacation days for folks. California-based Chowbotics, has seen an uptick in demand for its fresh food robot "Sally.". Few people are as knee-deep in our work-related anxieties and sticky office politics as Alison Green, who has been fielding workplace questions for a decade now on her website Ask a Manager. Get the latest news from Namely about HR, Payroll, and Benefits. Basically, the idea is to boost morale by giving students a collective silly goal. Take a bubble bath (bonus: Add a glass of. The cost of commuting is heavily influenced by the location of the workplace relative to where the employee lives. Coronavirus has put a particular national spotlight on unmet needs of the growing older population in our country, and the tens of millions of overstretched family and professional caregivers they . You may opt-out by. But some employers have devised celebrations that will keep people safe and actually sound fun (even to this curmudgeon). SHRM estimates that it costs $20,000 to $30,000 in recruiting and training expenses to replace a manager making $40,000 a year. Each act should be around five minutes. 80+ School Spirit Week Ideas and Activities To Build Community I cannot wait. PopCap, the company behind legendary Facebook games like Bejeweled, offers some fantastic break rooms for its 400 odd employees. Check out our list of the best online murder mysteries. Today's employees seek recognition and rewards based on the career advancement that they want. PDF COVID-19 Developing Resilience in the Workplace First, create a Slack channel for the games. Working remotely creates a new set of challenges that arebeing amplified by the added stress of school closures andby the anxiety many are facing during this pandemic. Here are a few examples. Gather the kids and create Paper Mice, Halloween skull jewelry, and more. High 53F. Employee appreciation is the cornerstone of developing a robust and meaningful workplace culture. Then, encourage teammates to square off. A client of mine, whose team of 15 people are now all working from home, established daily 30-minute morning team check-ins to stay connected and on top of the priorities of the team, which have shifted given COVID-19. For inspiration, check out our lists of online cooking classes and online art classes. Harvard Business Review reports that "the most impactful driver of employee engagement is recognition.". Why not expend the effort necessary to retain the staff that you have already painfully recruited and hired? $10 at Amazon. Recommended Article: The Ultimate Guide To Employee Rewards and Recognition. Photos by Getty Images Plus. Get the latest news from Namely about HR, payroll, and benefits. Everybody got to sign up for whichever they liked best: Online beer tasting (they ship the beer to your house, and then you taste it on Zoom with an expert telling you what youre tasting). How to be a good coworker and leader during this crisis. Many teams are waking up to a new reality of working remotely. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. I'm really hoping we won't have to consider this in future years, but a lot of planning time went into making sure that we minimized our COVID risk during the trip. Make Sure You're COVID Safe. Here is our take on enhancing employee motivation with the below 33 exceptional employee appreciation ideas. Thus in this scenario, investing in an effective recognition program becomes a critical part of employee engagement. To play a murder mystery online, first find a game or script, and then invite teammates to a Zoom meeting to play out the scenario. This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. 31. Ask your remote team members to describe their day so far with an emoji or a string of emojis. Simply designate a theme for each day or meeting, then choose the best dressed for each category. Then, plan festive activities to enjoy together during the call. But with 29% of Americans reporting that they never drink alcohol, it is time for businesses to think of more inclusive activities. Part of the fun of spirit week is pretending, and murder mysteries cast participants in the roles of cunning detectives. Make the day memorable by organizing outside barbecues or small office parties. Heightened communication is necessary, not only to keep your remote team productively focused, but because the sudden move from the workplace to a home space can take an emotional toll on people when they no longer have the social contact with work friends and colleagues. She had such a creative way for putting a holiday spin on our corporate branding, and theyre going to be a big hit! These activities also make great spring spirit week ideas for work. Unorthodox corporate perks such as trips to hike near a volcano or dive with dolphins are an increasingly powerful way to attract, retain and motivate top talent. 15 Ideas To Celebrate Halloween in the Workplace | Indeed.com Why not see which team has the most steps or ran the furthest distance this week? On beach day, participants post virtual backgrounds of tropical locations and sip mock mai tais. Virtual Theme Weeks Can Bring Students and Faculty Together There are numerous free crossword creating apps, and all you need to do is share the linkso easy and so fun! - Mira Rakicevic, Co-founder at Comfy Living. 6. December is the most obvious time to throw a virtual holiday party. 4 Ways A Single Word Has The Power To Positively Change Your Perspective, 8 Ways To Create Certainty Amid Current Workplace Uncertainty, Why Accountability Is At The Core Of Stewardship Delegation, 5 Ways To Grow Your Personal Brand As A Content Creator, Why We Need To Make Every Day Employee Appreciation Day, In A Competitive Job Market, Heres How To Win The Interview, 5 Tips To Recession-Proof Your Career And Bullet-Proof Your Security. The Coronavirus Crisis 9 Ways Schools Will Look Different When (And If) They Reopen 1. First, give teammates a few options for online courses and ask them to vote for their favorite. COVID Halloween Ideas | Martha Stewart Taking care of your employees' health is the most prominent form of appreciation that you can show. Sometimes, the utmost appreciation that an employee seeks is a promotion in his job role. I think that well continue doing this even after the pandemic is goneits such a cool way to learn more about the people you work with every day. - Dennis Vu, CEO and Co-founder of Ringblaze, We hired a magician to put on a virtual magic show for our staff, clients, and vendors to watch with their families. Chances are, your company has one too. Plus, you could throw virtual parties for any holiday. Thus, make it easier for team members to congratulate each other on a job well done. Your team can decorate their jack-o'-lanterns during break, lunch, or while you hold a team meeting. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com. Everything is impacted by COVID-19 in some way, including our work. Learn more: 25 Employee Recognition Statistics You Shouldn't Ignore. Their diaries are told in words and. How to Engage And Retain Your Employees During Covid - LinkedIn All rights reserved. If you see someone going above and beyond and who commutes through their own vehicles, this will prove to be a wonderful opportunity to make their lives a little bit easier. But we must also address the negative impact of isolation loneliness, fatigue or even . Or, you could start a gallery on social media or a cloud-based photo album, and invite teammates to vote on their favorite uploads throughout the week. The events should also not take too long to do. School spirit week is a fun time for everyone to come together and show off their pride. Find out how to attract and retain your employees through their entire lifecycle. Hand Sanitizers. Home tours are a fun way for remote teammates to invite each other into personal spaces. Declaring theme days is one of the easiest spirit week ideas for work from home. Have office happy hours and hire a bartender to mix them a drink or two. With these 33 employee appreciation ideas, you will see reduced turnover and retain your top talents. During these Walk-and-Talk meetings, employees can stroll around their neighborhoods, nearby parks, or even backyards for a change of scenery and some fresh air. Simply ask, how are we doing living up to our agreements?. of 70-75% ethyl alcohol. In advance we were all given a link to a store that sells cocktail making kits. Celebrate "Employee Appreciation Day" With Pomp And Show Employee Appreciation Day is a semi-formal holiday in the United States. Decatur, IL (62521) Today. Paint Pumpkins. To keep our employees motivated, we are encouraging and hosting virtual social time. Whether they worked late to get the job done, blew past their sales goal, or volunteering at a local shelter, give employees the credit they deserve. A crisis like this can either break ateamdown and widen any cracks in its foundation, or it canresult in the emergence of true greatness. This peer-to-peer employee recognition idea is about encouraging everyone from the organization to recognize good work. Not my cup of tea but a lot of people seemed to like it! And amid stay-at-home orders. Put up fun office anecdotes on the bulletin board. Spirit weeks are a time-honored tradition, in elementary, middle, and high schools alike. Team building content expert. Help make kindness the norm at school, home and work by using the links below! You. We have 30+ experiences to choose from, and thousands of five star reviews. Typical activities include theme days, costume contests, and online parties. For example, build breaks into your work schedule, remind team members to take breaks, and don't do work tasks while off work.7,8,9,10,11,12,13 Model problem solving from a variety of viewpoints. Employees should be free to decide where they want to work and when they want to work whenever possible. Between the confetti, balloons, and cake, office birthday parties are always fun to organize. With more than 30 million people filing for unemployment in the past six weeks, the U.S. is predicted to experience a coronavirus-induced recession through 2021. Record and report COVID-19 infections and deaths: Under mandatory OSHA rules in 29 CFR part 1904, employers are required to record work-related cases of COVID-19 illness on OSHA's Form 300 logs if the following requirements are met: (1) the case is a confirmed case of COVID-19; (2) the case is work-related (as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5); and . For example, new employees should receive a buddy to learn the ropes. Reward employees with a token or gift of appreciation from your side. This activity won't cause too much distraction or mess. Ive found its a great way to know more about what a persons workday and life outside of work are like, as well as to better understand coworkers even those who work across the country. - Angela Ceresnie, CEO at Climb Credit. Clear your schedule for at least an hour. Materialistic perks are fine. 9. In uncertain times, one thing is certain with fundraisingthe more you plan, the better off you will be. Finally going on a picnic with their loved ones. Book an Airbnb virtual experience. For example, theme days, virtual talent shows, and costume contests. I also personally feel that it's boosting my wellbeing and brightening my day. Throughout the evening or afternoon, read awards off one by one, and give each winner 30 seconds to give a victory speech. Celebrating employee birthdays never gets old. Check out BoostEducatorsChallenge.com for details. These small everyday gestures can come off as a pleasant surprise and make employees feel valued. We've had a few teams compete in virtual relays, races, or step challenges using free apps to log steps, distance ran/cycled, etc. Not every office can shut down for a full week, but even just an afternoon off usually goes over well: Our end-of-year celebration is usually a big lunch and then we get the rest of the afternoon off. Simply gear each days activities around a particular topic. We safeguard your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Dessert buffets are fun and positively addicting. You could even hold contests to name and reward the best virtual backgrounds for each meeting. Video game consoles. Virtual spirit weeks bolster team resolve and brightens telecommuters moods. You could even give teammates a prompt per day, like show us your fridge, or share your favorite spot in the house. This activity helps remote teammates learn more about each other, and may reveal shared interests and common ground. Covid Christmas plans: How to celebrate safely I Paperless Post This calculation is based on it costing about six to nine months . The knowledge that there is a whole day dedicated to employee appreciation should let you know its significance. 21 Fun Quarantine Christmas Ideas 2020 - Good Housekeeping It could be a magazine subscription (on a topic they would be interested in), treats for pets, snack samples, or anything they would enjoy. 1. Get Chinese food somewhere. Remote team games like holiday Bingo, trivia, and scavenger hunts get guests moving and invoke the holiday spirit. About how his/her contributions have aided to a projects successful completion. Encourage team members to do the same. This is how COVID-19 will change the office lunch - Fast Company With trick-or-treating officially considered a high-risk activity, you may be scrambling to find something for your little goblins to do on the 31st. We all know that employees are the most valuable asset for a business. Theres nothing quite like desserts and ice cream to alleviate stress. Here are instructions on changing virtual backgrounds in Zoom, GoogleMeet, and Microsoft Teams. Shared items such a candy jars, cereal boxes, and containers of nuts should be removed for the safety of all workers. Tips for supporting yourself and your team - Mind It was a lot of fun! - Stephen J. Kontos, Founder & CEO at PatentXP PLLC, We keep employee morale high by sending out thank you notes to our employees currently working from home. Recognizing employees is a great way to boost morale and build excitement during spirit week. Coronavirus Impacting Your Fundraising? Here's What to Do Or take a field trip to the local entertainment venue. The Kaiser Family Foundation found . 26 Working From Home Tips During the Coronavirus Outbreak - Healthline When an employee above and beyond on a project at work or accomplishes a personal goal, give them a shoutout on social media to commend their hard work. This is a great way to begin your team meetings. How to Be Physically Active While Social Distancing Heres some of what people reported. 2. Show your employees some love by making sure that the snacks provided are healthy and nutritious. They are great team members. You might find that employee appreciation becomes a tad bit easier and a whole lot more fun.