Friday Fun: Bringing Joy to Your Work Week

[Sidar Yarar]

It's Fri-yay and what better way to celebrate the end of the work week than with a little bit of fun? We all have our ways of unwinding and letting loose after a long week of work, but why not bring that same joy and energy into the workplace? At our Company, we believe that happy and engaged employees lead to better work and more successful teams. So, let's take a look at some ways to inject a little bit of fun into your work week.

1. Dress Up Days Who says you can't wear a costume to work? Schedule a dress-up day with your team and let your creativity run wild. Whether it's a superhero theme, a decade-inspired day, or just a silly hat day, dressing up is a sure-fire way to bring some laughter and fun into the office.

2. Game Breaks Take a break from your usual routine and challenge your colleagues to a friendly game. It could be a classic board game or even an online multiplayer game. Not only does it help to break up the monotony of the work day, but it's also a great way to build teamwork and collaboration skills.

3. Lunch and Learn Combine learning with a good meal by organizing a lunch and learn session. Encourage your colleagues to share their skills and knowledge on a variety of topics. From cooking to coding, there's always something to learn and share. Plus, it's a great way to get to know your colleagues on a personal level.

4. Swagshots Who doesn't love swag? Show off your favorite piece of Atlassian swag by participating in a Swagshot challenge. Whether it's a cool mug or a fun t-shirt, snap a photo of your swag in action and share it with your team. It's a great way to celebrate the company culture and show off your pride.

5. Useless Skills We all have those quirky and useless skills that we're secretly proud of. Why not share them with your team? Organize a useless skills competition where everyone can show off their unique talents. From juggling to whistling, there's always something to admire and appreciate.

In conclusion, a little bit of fun can go a long way in creating a positive work environment. By injecting some joy and humor into your work week, you can boost morale, improve teamwork, and ultimately lead to better work. So, what are you waiting for? Let's bring some Friday Fun into our work week!

[Dan Breyen]

Great idea.  Keeps the monotony at bay.  

[Sidar Yarar]

Thanks @Dan Breyen 

[Dreamsuite Mike]

Excellent sentiment @Sidar Yarar 

It is easy when at work to get caught up in the pressure, seriousness and adultness of a work environment.  

In the words of the actor John Cleese, 83 years old, "the key to longevity in life is to retain your inner child"

He tells a story: He was waiting for his wife in the lobby of the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore, he decided to do as he has done for most of their married life...He hid from her and then leapt out to scare her when she came along, much to the bemusement of the very serious looking staff at this 80+ man acting like an 8 year old.    

The moral is, whilst we can't behave like children all of the time, there is something that children have that we managed to lose, reduce or corrupt through adulthood.  There are attributes children have that we should strive to retain throughout our lives. 

Curiosity, a willingness to absorb everything around us, ability to lose all inhibition, imagination, ability to have fun just for the sole purpose of having fun.

[Sidar Yarar]

Wow thanks, really great comment @Dreamsuite Mike .
You are absolutely right, I also think that you should let your inner child live on. Also has the nice effect that we can have a lot of fun with our children and build a healthy relationship :D

[Marjorie]

I like this idea. Once a month it seems my husband plays a particular song to get me out of bed on the weekend.  It is an old song, not very good, but the lyrics are catchy and make me get up, dance in the living room and sing along.  LOL... also, not very good!  I Like Bread and Butter 

LYRICS

A-he likes bread and butter

A-he likes toast and jam

A-that's what his baby feeds him

A-he's her loving man

Well, I like bread and butter I like toast and jam

That's what baby feeds me I'm her loving man

A-he likes bread and butter

A-he likes toast and jam

A-that's what his baby feeds him

A-he's her loving man

Well, she don't cook mashed potatoes

She don't cook t-bone steak

She don't feed me peanut butter

She knows that I can't take

A-he likes bread and butter

A-he likes toast and jam

A-that's what his baby feeds him

A-he's her loving man

Well, I got home early one monday

Much to my surprise

She was eating chicken and dumplings

A-with some other guy

No more bread and butter

A-no more toast and jam F

ound his baby eating

A-with some other man

No, no, no, no more bread and butter

A-no more toast and jam I found my baby eating

A-with some other man

No, no, no, no more bread and butter

No, no, no, no more toast and jam

No, no, no, no more bread and butter

No, no, no, no more ...

[Sidar Yarar]

ahhahaha xD nice 

[Summer Hogan]

Great question @Sidar Yarar! There are games you can play with your teams now in MS Teams so I've been using those as a fun way to start a meeting. One of them is "This or That" where you have to pick between two similar things such as Talking pets or talking babies? or Winning the lottery or finding your soulmate? It's so much fun and you get to learn the different perspectives of your teammates. 

[Sidar Yarar]

So that you know @summer.hogan , I will copy the idea with the game on MS Teams from you. :D

[Faizal Rahman]

Nice ideas.

[John Funk]

I certainly like to keep things light around the office. (And with fellow Community Leaders if you know me at all  ;-)  

My philosophy is that if we need to be at work that much during the week, we should try to enjoy the time - laugh together, have a few senseless conversations, enjoy some memes, etc. Maybe even play a few harmless practical jokes on each other.

Do everything with a good attitude and not overstep your boundaries. And most certainly get work done - first and foremost. But when you are have a good time, the work seems to happen quicker and more gets done ironically. 

[Sidar Yarar]

Maybe more things get done, could have to do with the energy generated by this Fun. Or I could also imagine working more effectively to continue enjoying these benefits, could also have something to do with the work being approached more effectively.

[Jack Brickey]

Well, being recently retired my work week looks different than a few months ago. However, when I was working, I always tried to make it fun. It was important to me, as a leader to create an environment where people wanted to come to work. I always kept things casual, inviting, non-discriminatory, inclusive, and fun. I recall one particular group where we would go out each day and play a few holes of disc golf that was on campus and every Thursday we knocked off early and played volleyball.

[Sidar Yarar]

Many certainly enjoy working with such a leader.

[Nate Whitehead]

I might be a total nerd, but Friday fun for me is learning and exploring new things and even better pairing or mobbing on it so that it's not isolated to a single person. I love geeking out on learning new features (or just features of tools / languages that I haven't used yet). It's like pulling toys out of an adult toy box for me and throwing them on the floor and seeing what can be built.

[Amanda Barber]

I love the idea of having this type of work regularly scheduled. My team has been doing a much better job of reaching out and mobbing when appropriate, but this feels like it could be a fun way to make sure everyone is benefiting from this type of pairing/mobbing more regularly.

[Carlos Garcia Navarro]

It's important to have fun. When done as a group it helps with team building and increases morale and commitment. With my team we used to have happy hour weekly, and once a quarter we'd meet to plan for a full day offsite with ended with games (like going bowling) and dinner together. One of the groups in my company had formal Friday which consisted on going to the office on Fridays dressing very formally, with a suit or a dress. People were having fun with doing something different as a team!

[Amanda Barber]

Reminds me of this article I've had pinned/open for a while now! https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/02/04/1150518287/fun-play-happiness-stress-reduction?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

[vikram]

Great Idea, those were days where we used to dress in schools.

Yes, really we need to implement or set this dress up for fun activity. 

Vikram P 

[Ken McClean]

That's why I like working from home: all my fun stuff is there

[Abhinav Shilwant]

Great Idea!!

[Markku Miettunen]

We have today a company-wide Feels Like Summer festival - it will be great fun :) 

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

It's a pretty good idea... waiting to have a company meet-up sometime this month or the next to have team building events.

[Abhinav Shilwant]

Hey, I am also waiting for this.

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

We have a happy hour at the end of every month where our team will gather just to have fun. Mostly it's on quizzes sometimes other online games.

[Brant Schroeder]

Great ideas.

[Ryan Fisher]

I also enjoyed my weekend by spending time on beaches and there I played volleyball it was such an amazing experience.