Hobbies And Interests
Two Things
Before the birthday party, ask each employee to anonymously write down one of the personal achievements or goals they've completed within the past work year, such as "I exceeded sales goals five months in a row," and one personal workplace quirk, like "I take one sugar and five creams in my morning coffee." They should be written on two separate slips of paper. At the beginning of the party, collect all the paper slips into one box, making sure they remain folded and unreadable. As employees enjoy refreshments, pass the box around and let employees take turns guessing which achievement and quirk belongs to which of their co-workers. If they pair the correct quirk or achievement with the correct co-worker, they get to keep the slip; if they guess incorrectly, the slip goes back into the box. Rounds continue until all the achievements and quirks have been guessed correctly. Whoever has the most slips wins the game.
Build a Strategy
A story-development activity that is played in a round, the game begins with a semi-silly hypothetical work situation with the potential to develop obstacles; ultimately, it requires a resolution. To play, the first person in the round introduces the problem, and after a brief period, stops their explanation in the middle of a word. The next person in the round picks up at that exact spot, completing the intended word or altering it into their own word choice, then continuing to develop the problem and suggesting a solution. The round continues with each person adding to the work-related strategy, solving parts of the problem while creating other obstacles within the strategy until each player has a turn. The game ends when the final player, usually the guest of honor at the birthday party, must wrap up the hopelessly complicated, hopefully ridiculous work situation with an air-tight resolution.
Multi-Tasking Mania
A group game played as individuals rather than a team, Multi-Tasking Mania requires only writing utensils and paper divided into three numbered columns. Before the game begins, a game leader will assign one work-related subject to each column (for example: productivity, team morale and client retention). The game leader then starts the game play by calling out a column number. Once the column number has been called, the players begin writing a paragraph on the assigned subject in the appropriate column. The game leader then continuously calls out different column numbers in a variety of orders at intervals of varying length, forcing the players to multi-task in their thought processes by switching back and forth between topics at a rapid, unpredictable pace. Once time is called, the players review their disjointed, incomplete essays for the most humorous sentence breaks or enlightened thoughts to share with the group, beginning with the birthday guest of honor.