5 Ways to Have Some Fun During the Holidays

5 Ways to Have Some Fun During the Holidays

Think the holidays have to mean stress, chaos, and uncontrollable madness? We disagree!

The holiday season is meant to be enjoyed. Businesses can embrace the bustling atmosphere with a few easy, but fun, ideas. Here are five of our favorite ways to have some fun during the holidays.

1. Have a Holiday Party

This one might sound obvious, but many organizations get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season that they forget to plan a company holiday party. But, a holiday party is a great way to help your team break loose a little bit, commiserate over the stress of the holiday rush, and bond with an activity other than work.

Put it on your schedule now and then start planning.

The planning doesn’t have to be stressful. Keep it simple to keep your sanity. Your team doesn’t need a lot of frills to have a good time. Get your party catered. Host a potluck. Go to your local bowling alley. Whatever it is, keep the planning to a minimum to save yourself the stress of planning, in addition to everything already on your plate.

2. Host Regular Happy Hours

If a holiday party isn’t on the cards for your team this year (or maybe it is, but you want to keep the fun vibes going), hosting a regular happy hour might be an easy alternative.

Happy hours are casual affairs that tend to take a life of their own. All you have to do is set the time, date, and location. From there, your team will interact and entertain each other. It’s a simple way to unwind and at the same time, build a cohesive team structure.

3. Offer Rewards

Your team is working hard. Their hard work deserves to be rewarded. Why not have some fun with your reward system during the holidays?

There are many ways you can honor the people who are going above and beyond to help your business grow during the end-of-year rush. Have a daily award that you hand out to the person who handled a problem in the most unusual way. Or, nominate someone weekly for the longest smile (the person who smiles the most at customers throughout the week). Try to get creative with your awards and then honor those who are doing well.

4. Bring Santa to the Office

You don’t need to have jolly old St. Nicholas himself in your office to have a little fun with Santa Claus in the workplace. Start your own Secret Santa game to help your team get to know one another, while at the same time inspiring a little mischief about who’s giving whom a gift.

The key here is to draw names early enough so no one feels pressured to buy something right away while they’re already busy holiday shopping.

5. Bake Cookies

Nothing screams the holiday season more than cookies. Having some delicious sweet treats in your office to munch on during breaks can instantly perk up your employees taste buds and moods.

Pass around the honor of baking something sweet to share, or do it yourself. If neither option sounds fun for your already pressed crew, buying store-bought holiday cookies will have the same positive impact on your office morale.

Holiday Rushes Can Be Fun

It sounds crazy, but it’s true. The holidays are meant to be enjoyed. Bring this fun spirit into your workplace with these fun ideas. What other ways are you having fun in your office this holiday season?

Author Profile Jon Forknell is the Vice President and General Manager of Atlas Business Solutions, Inc., a software marketing company specializing in employee scheduling software, including ScheduleBase employee scheduling software, and other business software solutions. In the past, Jon has been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Atlas Business Solutions was named as one of Software Magazine’s Top 500 Software Companies in 2004 through 2007 and again in 2010, 2013 and 2014.