Hobbies And Interests
Meeting Bingo
Create bingo boards for each of the people on your team. For each cell in each of the five-by-five grids, write in key terms that might come up during your team's next meeting. During the meeting, each player marks off his bingo board each time one of his key words or phrases is spoken. The first player to get five marks in a row wins the game. Managers shouldn't dismiss this game right away, as it does require the employees to participate and listen closely to what is said.
Email Races
If you are really bored at work, send a mass email out to everyone on your team. Include important information about an upcoming meeting or team deadline, but at the bottom ask everyone to respond to your email with a note saying they read it. Award a prize to the first person on the team who replies. This can help you find out who is sitting at her desk -- and who reads your emails entirely to the end.
Productivity Competitions
On a busy day, when your team is focused, it might be easier to get a high level of productivity. On a slow day, though, a game might be required to boost activity. If you work in a call center, for example, have a contest to see who can make the most phone calls, or who can place the highest number of phone calls that last more than a designated amount of time. In a sales office, have the employees compete to book the most appointments in a day.
Office Lottery
Sometimes you just have to have a little fun in the office. Reward employees who work hard even when they have significant temptations to leave the office, such as beautiful weather outside. Announce that you will hand out raffle tickets throughout the day to people who are at their desks and clearly working on office matters. At random times, announce a winner by email. Give the winner a specific time frame --- say, 15 minutes --- to claim his prize before another name is drawn.