Top 5 Fun Friday Games And Activities To Keep Your Team Engaged

Weekend approaching sooner than you think? Yes! That’s possible. Turn your office Friday into “Fri-yay” with a list of fun-filled games and activities that your team can play virtually  or in the office. HRs, you will finally hear “TGIF!” while your employees indulge in these fun Friday activities.

Brain stimulating leisure activities and approaching work with a fresh mindset are needed for overall wellness and peak productivity. 5-10 minutes of fun-filled break and group activities can be a big game-changer when closing the weekend at work with a bang, and it can leave the employees feeling satisfied and relieved of stress.

Fun Fridays games at the workplace are very important as they create a work-life balance and help employees build connections with the team, while having a joyous time. Many employers come up with creative ways to approach the monotony of working. Some companies ask employees to dress down or have themed workwear; potlucks are great ice-breakers too. 

But in the post-Covid era, many companies have shifted to a remote or hybrid style of working, so it is even more crucial to keep the employees engaged with the team and create a feeling of oneness. A mixed workforce can be equally stressed and want to interact with colleagues, and Fun Friday games come to the rescue.

Here’s a list of 5 Fun Friday games and activities you can indulge in online, at the office or both:

Charades

Charades is a simple and well-known game. Two departments can compete against each other or mix up people from different departments. The game encourages group participation, building connections and a session full of laughter among employees. This classic game is a hit and can be played at the office or through google meet or zoom.

Members required - 2 teams or 5-10 individuals

Medium - Online/Offline 

How to play :

1. Divide the participating members into two teams or make two departments compete against each other
2.  Team A comes up with a word related to any Topic: Movies, Songs, Artists, or you could get more creative and use office terminology or enact a well-known team member's etiquette.
3. Team B appoints one individual who can know what the word is, and they enact it out for the team to guess without saying a word.
4. The Team with the most number of guesses wins.

Weekly Surveys 

This  Fun Friday activity will keep the employees hooked and waiting for every Friday activity session. This activity allows employees from different teams and workplaces to connect on an informal level. It will leave people curious, bonding over pop culture and other interests they might have in common.

Members - No Limit / Anyone can Participate

Medium- Online 

How to conduct this activity:

Make a list of popular questions that will help individuals know each other better in an informal way. Example: Song of the week, Fun Fact, Snack of the week or Laugh of the week, best moment of the week etc. Now share this form and make it creative, so it doesn't look like another google form and share it through company email or create a slack thread. The participants can fill these in and share them in the thread to know each other's interests and connect over them.

Open Mics

Open Mic is one such activity that will garner every employee's interest. Do not be alarmed; you do not have to put up a show as our parents asked us to when the guests came over. This Fun Friday activity is just another way for you to add to the idea of pursuit of fun at the workplace, help co-workers showcase their talents and boost their morale.

Members: Any Member participating

Medium: Online/Offline

How to conduct this activity:

Inform all the members of a specific time allotted for an Open mic event, and now watch everyone panic. Haha! You can avoid the panic by listing down or asking the teams or individuals about their hobbies and interests and sending them invites to perform or showcase their talent. There’s always more than that meets the eye, and there has to be someone with a guitar and a good voice that can help start the open mic. It can have people reading poems, singing, sharing their personal achievements like learning to whistle or backflip or videos of them training their pets. This activity can be conducted at the office, through online meetings, or on slack. 

Two lies and a truth

This is a ubiquitous and engaging game with a subtle twist that employees can play online and offline. It ensures team building, and it's one of the best ice-breakers. Individuals can play it online through a slack channel or video conferencing, and it is sure to leave all the employees laughing and guessing.

Members: Any member participating

Medium: Online/Offline

How to play the game:

Every individual writes down three things or incidents that have taken place with them or others. You can write on a sheet of paper, on the designated slack channel or in the chatbox. 

Each participating individual writes two lies and one truth. Other team members or participants must guess the truth from the two lies—the most number of guesses by a team or individual wins.

Penny, for your creative thoughts.

Familiar with this Idiom? Well, do not worry, we are not asking you to pitch any new ideas, but we wouldn't close our ears if you did! This game helps increase creativity, gain new experiences and build good employer-employee relationships. It will ensure great camaraderie among the workforce.

Member: Any member participating

Medium: Offline, can be customised to suit an online audience

How to play :

1. You need to have a few pennies or coins minted in different years collected in a bowl or jar. Make sure you have pennies from the year of your oldest employee to the youngest.
2. Ask each participant to pick a coin from the jar and say it aloud.
3. After everyone has picked a coin, ask them to reveal one of the best memories and one worst or funny memory from that year. You can also get creative and turn this into trivia where you can list down the important events that happened that year around the world. 
4. Don’t have any coins? Want to play this game virtually? Simply use pop-culture references from a particular year and let the players share their favourite memories from the time a particular show aired or band played. 

Having fun at the workplace is as important as being creative and productive. These Fun Friday games in the office are sure to help employees have a joyous time at work. Having fun at the job you love is as essential as having a job you love, and employers must ensure such activities are conducted weekly. 

There are plenty of ways to ensure employee wellness by conducting Fun Friday games, Conducting team-building activities, providing insurance, Joining kits, benefits and team gatherings. So what are you waiting for? Get set to organise some of these fun activities and make your employees go Fri-yaying.