With the current restrictions brought on by Covid-19, employers, senior management and team leaders are having to think outside the box with regards to ways to boost the morale of their staff. With lockdown being in full swing the usual team lunch or team drinks aren’t able to go ahead as they normally would, and we have seen a number of different and imaginative ways that people are treating their staff and helping them to feel valued and part of a team as best they can. Having seen and heard some of the inventive things people are doing, we wanted to share our top five in case you, or your boss, are looking to spread a little joy during these uncertain times!
Care Packages – At Lily Shippen I decided to put together a care package for my staff which was a complete surprise to them, and, once they had received it they all messaged to say how much they loved it and how it had made their week. As some of my team were due to go on holiday over Easter I included a bottle of spray tan and a tanning mitt to make them feel and look sun kissed, as well as a facemask, bar of chocolate, daily journal, motivational book and some branded post-it notes. All the items were packaged in a re-usable box with our logo on the front. Care packages seem to be a popular and well received choice for a lot of employers, and we have seen a number of people from different companies posting their care packages on social media and LinkedIn. The good thing about care packages is you can tailor them to suit your budget and your employees and you can choose what you want going into the boxes. We used a brilliant company called Hatters Promotional Merchandise, who were able to package the items into boxes with our branding on the top. This could be a thoughtful way to put a smile on your team’s face!
Come Dine With Me – Another way to spread a bit of cheer within your team and, again, something we have seen a lot of on social media is to do with everyone’s favourite thing – food! People generally love eating and trying different dishes, however, when our favourite restaurants and bars are closed it’s easy to get set in your ways with your mealtimes and have a lack of inspiration when it comes to meal ideas. In order to mix things up and try something a bit different during lockdown why not send a food package out to your team and ask them to send you pictures of their completed dish. This doesn’t have to break the bank and we have seen some cheap and cheerful ideas on social media. One company sent their staff the ingredients to make a homemade pizza including pizza dough, passata for the tomato base, ready grated cheese, ham and pepperoni (for non veggies) and some soft drinks and two small bottles of wine. However, you could also do this with the ingredients to make a pasta dish too! Another idea, which won’t cost you as an employer any money, is to think of your favourite restaurant (this could be somewhere you and your team usually go to celebrate) or just a well known chain or restaurant close to your office and ask your team or employees to recreate a dish from the menu. Why not do this late on a Friday afternoon and ask your team to prepare the dish, bring their favourite drink and you can all sit and enjoy a meal and a drink together virtually!
Fitness Challenges – Something a little healthier than food packages which companies are getting involved with is to set their teams fitness challenges. This can be anything from walking or running a marathon between a team, to a weekly virtual fitness workout where all employees can join in. You could even ask a different person each week to host it and wear their favourite Mr Motivator style outfit! This does not have to be anything really fitness intense but will hopefully allow your team to have a laugh (at their own and their teams expense) whilst keeping fit and healthy at the same time – what’s not to like!
Fancy Dress Happy Hour – Another fun way to boost morale during lockdown is to schedule a happy hour every week, but to make it a little more interesting why not incorporate a fancy dress theme each week, with the best dressed receiving a prize. We have seen loads of great ideas like a races theme, a 90s theme and a movies theme. Again, this doesn’t necessarily have to cost you or your company any money but is something that everyone can get involved in and something which should hopefully bring some laughter and light-heartedness to your week. Plus, when paired with your favourite tipple you can’t go wrong!
Weekly Competitions – A final way we have seen companies trying to boost morale within their staff is to get them involved in weekly competitions. This could be a weekly virtual pub quiz where you split your company or team into smaller sub teams and each week a different sub team can take it in turn to host the quiz. Each sub-team will therefore have to communicate in order to put the quiz together and when answering the quiz questions each week. This will help to encourage communication and also act as a team bonding exercise. Another idea, if you have a lot of staff who have children, would be to implement weekly competitions which involve their children too. Why not look at a family Fifa or drawing competition to get the children involved or even try a family friendly quiz every other week on a Friday afternoon! This will add a bit of fun to both your staff and their kid’s weeks!
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash