Organize Office Olympics

It’s almost time for the Olympics. If you can’t head to London to watch some of the world’s best athletes, you can still get a taste of the events by holding your own office Olympics. 

Office Olympics—made popular in an episode of the television series The Office—can be a great way to build camaraderie among your coworkers and add a fun break to the long workday. 

The first step is to get your bosses on board with the idea. Tip: Try using the event as a charity fundraiser. This makes it more likely your employer will be supportive. 

Depending on how much time and energy you can devote to the event and the number of participants, you can really go all out. Assign each department or team to represent a country and let them create their own flags and perhaps even uniforms (ideally these should be made out of office supplies or accessories). 

Next, think of creative events. Some ideas include: 

• Office chair races (Be sure to set up a safe raceway or course.) 
• Trash bin basketball 
• Timed office tasks: Who can answer the phone and forward a call the fastest? 
• Post-it note flip-book contest: Who can make the neatest flip book in a given time? 
• Paper clip chain contest: Who can make the longest chain in a given time? 
• Rubber band slingshot or archery: Who can fire a rubber band the farthest or hit a set target? 
• Cubicle crawl: Who can crawl from one end of a row of cubicles to the other the fastest? 

After your events, host your own version of an awards ceremony. Award small token prizes to all participants, even if they didn’t win any medals. 

— By Bobbi Dempsey