16 fun Friday games and activities for your employees - in office and remote
Fun Friday games and Fun Friday activities for employees in office and work from home.
Pazcare Team
2 mins read
Updated on:
March 16, 2023
Quick summary
Looking for some fun things to do to loosen up for the weekend? We have the best recommendations!
In this blog 👇
List of fun games and activities to have in office on Fridays
List of fun things to conduct for employees working from home
Breaking out of the monotonous cycle of work is important for various reasons. Working continuously without a break could lead to many physical as well as mental health problems. It is crucial to take a break in between, to keep the creative juices flowing and not be stuck in a routine for a longer duration.
Having fun together as a team will also help in getting to know each other better and have less unnecessary awkward moments. A work place where one can have fun, be stress free without compromising on the output will yield higher results as compared to one where there is no fun and only work. It also serves as an employee engagement strategy which boosts your company culture.
On Fridays, you can break up the workday, let stress out, and get rid of creative blocks by engaging in a few fun Friday games at the office. These Fun Friday activities may help you decompress from work's frequent stress and keep a positive work-life balance.
Mentioned below are 15 such team building activities which would help your employees to relax and have a good time together. These fun Friday activities and games are focused on just having fun with the team and not thinking about work or deadlines for a few hours!
Heads up!
If we have learnt something from the celebrities, it is definitely a game of Heads Up! Pick a category and hold the deck to your forehead, guess the word as your fellow teammates states the clues. Instead of playing it digitally, the participants can have placards with the topics or categories written. This would ensure a 100% participation along with encouraging the people to use the witty and creative side of their brains.
No of players: 2 to 10
Duration: 30 seconds for each word
How to play : Pick a category and hold the deck to your forehead, guess the word as your fellow teammates states the clues.
Who am I?
Get weird and funny details from employees beforehand. The host has to tell a fact and the people should guess who it is from the group. The person who guesses the most wins. It is a fun game that makes people laugh and get to know more about others.
No of players: No limit
Duration: Up to the host. Recommended to give 20 secs to guess
How to play: Host to collect details and facts from employees beforehand and tell one by one during the game.
Karaoke nights
Who doesn’t love singing to their heart’s content? When done in front of their colleagues, it’ll become 10x more interesting and embarrassing. This simple singing game will enable your co-workers to get more comfortable with each other and help break the ice. Sing your favorite songs and make it a day/night to remember.
Have multiple games for different teams to make it more fun!
No of players: No limit
Duration: One song or free to choose a time limit
How to play: Can be played at karoake places where everything is set up. You can also do it by playing the song's karoke version and employees singing.
Spin a yarn
You can show images and ask one person to start a story from what they see on the image. Alternatively, a host can tell a few lines of a story and ask the next person to continue. It will continue in the group from one person to another. It becomes fun when the host intervenes in between adds a twist and the next person has to take it from there.
No of players: No limit
How to play: Host to have storylines and twists ready to plug in between.
Dress up Diana!
Set a theme that excites your employees and ask them to dress up and come for the day. To make it fun, you can play some of the games that are mentioned here on the day. For example, dress up your favorite Netflix character. This will strike a lot of conversations when people discuss their favorite shows and chracters.
No of players: No limit
How to play: Inform the the theme to the teams and just wait for the fun
Solve the puzzle
Get physical big puzzles and ask your employees to set them. You can group employees and time the game to make it more interesting. You can offer something to the group that wins the game.
No of players: 5 to 10 per group
How to play: . Give participants puzzles and set a timer.
Treasure hunt
Conduct a treasure hunt by hiding clues in the office or the area you are playing. One clue will lead to another and the final clue will lead to a big prize. This is a group activity and becomes very interesting as the team comes together to solve clues under a timer.
No of players: 5 to 10 per group
How to play: . Hide all clues in the area except first one. Give the first clue to teams at the same time and let the group find other clues to find the treasure.
Office Olympics
You can conduct a series of games simultaneously for multiple groups. This will work well for bigger teams. You can include games like carrom, chess, table tennis, dart board, beer pong, etc. To make it more nostalgic, you can divide people into houses in red, green, blue and yellow like in school days and see which house wins.
No of players: No limit
Duration: No limit
How to play: Plan what games to be conducted and get the materials ready. Divide employees into groups and ensure even participation of groups in all games.
Three truths and a lie
This game has aged like fine wine. This good old game can be played in a group or within a small circle as well, with each person saying four statements. These will consist of three truths and one lie. The rest of the party has to guess which one is the lie amongst the four. This game is the best icebreaker and team building exercise.
No of players: No limit
How to play: Each player has to say out loud three truths and a lie about themselves without saying which is the truth/lie and the others have to find out.
Potluck
Good conversations happen over a cup of coffee, similarly, great conversations happen over a plate full of delicious food! Another great way to initiate conversation among peers is by having a potluck, wherein, everybody will bring their favorite food and have a gala time with a full table. This is a good way to celebrate any and every big or small achievement made by the institution.
No of players: No limit
Duration: No limit
How to play: The potluck can be based on themes like colours, state wise cuisines or international cuisines.
Chinese whispers
This age-old game from our school times is perfect to giggle away our worries! Be it a phrase or a 15-20 letter word, anything and everything can be passed down from a row of participants and the end result, a lot of laughter! This is a great fun friday game will make sure it has the participants and the on-lookers laughing till their stomachs hurt.
Duration: 1 minute per person
How to play: Gather your team and make them sit/stand in a line. The first person picks his/her phrase of choice and whispers it to the second person in line. The step continues until the phrase is received by the last person who says it out loud.
A foolproof employee retention strategy in 2023 for HR practitioners
But since we’re all stuck at our homes because of the pandemic, it will be a mistake to not include a few games that can be played virtually. Following are 5 fun Friday games online to enjoy with your employees at the comfort of your homes.
Virtual Bingo
Pictionary
Charades
Playing Cards
Never Have I Ever
Virtual bingo
Since literally everything has come online now, why not a-game-as-old-as-time? Bingo is a sure shot way to keep your staff engaged during a Zoom call! Virtual Bingo is something which can be played by groups of people together and what does the winner get? A pizza party, a Zomato delivery from their favorite restaurant? Be Creative!
No of players: Minimum of 3 players
How to play: Choose bingo cards from the different categories or make your own customised theme. Select the number of cards each player gets and send them out by creating a link. Finally start calling out numbers one by one and the first to fully strike out either a row or column calls out BIngo.
Surprise your employees with your good or not-so-god artwork and let them guess what it is that you’re drawing. This game will definitely unwind the brains and help your employees interact with each other better.
No of players: Minimum of 2
How to play: Divide into teams. Pick a random word and select a player to draw the same for his team mates to find out within a specific decided time.The team that answers the most correctly wins.
Charades
As if embarrassing yourselves with your melodious singing in Karaoke and beautiful drawings in Pictionary wasn’t enough, play Charades to also showcase your inner actor! Let it be any movie from your generation or one generation above, the only aim is to enjoy at the comforts of our homes.
No of players: 6 and more
How to play: Divide into groups. Each player from the teams take turns to act out the chosen word/phrase for their team to guess.
Playing cards
Bored of playing Solitaire and online Rummy? Play card games with your colleagues and/or employees. Playing Cards have many options to choose from. You can create a room while on a Zoom call and have fun at your ‘new workplace’.
No of players: Minimum 2
Duration: No limit
How to play: You can either gather the team members on a zoom call or visit any online multiplayer card game sites.
Never have I ever
Since we’re talking about games which can be played from the comforts of our homes, this game cannot be left out. Pick a glass of any drink and spill some secrets in front of your employees. Let the quirkiness begin with this fun game which we’re sure will end up in getting to know more about your employees and staff.
No of players: No limit
Duration: No limit
How to play: Each player takes a turn by saying an experience that he/she has never done. If any of the other players have done it they would have to take sip of the drink but if no one has done it then the person who posed that experience has to take a sip.
These fun activities might seem a lot but at the end of the day, these will pose as a great ice-breaker. This added luxury of conducting fun Friday activities for the employees will definitely provide a weekly or bi-weekly relief to the employees from their regular jobs. This can be a great way to spark remote team engagement and also paves way for your team to engage with each other. It further will enhance the productivity of the people.
Having a fun workplace with good food and wine? Everybody’s in!
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