Become The Next Google! Inexpensive Ways To Add Fun To Your Company Culture

Posted on Nov 3 2016 - 8:01pm by Editorial Staff

If there is one thing that Google has managed to gain a fabulous reputation for, it is its unique office culture. Many of its employees praise the company for its relaxed and fun company culture and workspace. So why did Google ditch the stuffy office traditions? It’s because they understand the saying ‘work hard, play hard’. Google know that having a fun side can help to keep their employees happy in their jobs. And this leads to extremely motivated staff. Once your employees are all working their hardest, the company’s overall productivity will improve.

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Image Source – Pixabay

As Google is one of the largest companies in the world right now, it is understandable that they have a huge budget. And that allows them to add loads of cool features to their offices. And they can also afford to take their staff on exciting out of office days. Something that your small business probably won’t be able to stretch to. But that doesn’t mean that your company can’t enjoy the same fun perks. There are inexpensive ways that you can shower your employees with some fantastic motivational perks. And it can also be relatively cheap to improve your office culture. Intrigued to learn more? Then read on for all of my tips!

Get Rid Of Your Hierarchy

One notable feature of Google is that the company does not have any hierarchy. In fact, it has a flat organizational system. This means that there are very few layers of management within the company. That results in a wider span of authority. So the employees have a lot more responsibility and authority than they would do in a company with a regular hierarchy. Now, this point may not jump out at you and scream ‘fun’, but it is one of the first steps that you should take. Once you have flattened the hierarchy in your company, you will find that morale in your company instantly improves. That’s because allowing employees to be much more active in the decision making can be very rewarding for them. It will also help to reduce your costs in the long run. That’s because a flat hierarchy leads to a better staff retention so you won’t need to put too much money into continual recruitment.

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Image Source – Pixabay

Get Everyone Moving

Working in an office isn’t exactly the best job for our health. It is a very sedentary way of life, and the long hours don’t give us much time to hit the gym after work. But studies show that over half of office workers are overweight. So something has to be done about this. Google has come up with a unique way to deal with this issue. Some of their international offices have gyms and swimming pools. These encourage employees to take a break from their working day for fitness. You may not be able to get a gym installed in your office, but it is easy to incorporate fitness into your employees’ day. One idea is to start doing fitness challenges at work. For instance, think of starting a press-up challenge. You could set a target for employees to work up to over a set period. For instance, get everyone to work up to fifty press-ups over a month. This is a fun exercise for everyone to participate in, and they can help each other stay motivated throughout!

Leave The Office

Google gives all its employees plenty of chance to get out of the office. In fact, they even organize office ski trips and picnics in the summer. These probably aren’t activities that you can afford for your company. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be stuck in your office all day every day! You could organize a potluck picnic to help keep costs down for your business. That way, each employee will bring a different dish to add to the picnic buffet. This ensures you get a good range of dishes so that everyone will find something they like! Does your city have an annual Christmas market or fair? Why not take the day off and enjoy a day out at the event with all your employees? It gives everyone the chance to get their Christmas shopping done!

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Image Source – Pixabay

Office Challenges

I’ve already briefly mentioned fitness-related challenges, such as the press-up challenge. However, they don’t always have to be fitness ones! Google has table tennis tables and table football in its breakout rooms. And these are perfect for organizing an employee challenge! You could create a table tennis or table football tournament or set up a league for the year. But your challenges don’t have to be sport-related. There are loads of different ones that you could set for your staff. How about hosting a chili cook-off? Get your employees to cook some chili at home and then bring it into the office. If you can think of a challenge, bring it up at your next full-company meeting and see if your staff likes the sound of it! All of these challenges can create a great sense of camaraderie within your company. They can also help to increase employees’ morale. And once camaraderie and morale improve, you will find that your employees are all extremely motivated.

Add Fun Touches To The Office

It’s all well and good trying to create a fun atmosphere for your office. But it probably won’t stick if your office looks gray and drab. You need to add some fun touches to its decor to help reinforce the office culture that you want. Don’t just paint the walls in bright colors. This can be extremely overwhelming, think of going with magnolias and bright whites. You can always add plenty of color by hanging paintings and photos. Your employees will feel a lot more settled if they can add their own personalized touches to their workspace. Let them bring in family photos to put on their desk. If they want, they can also hang some of their favorite pictures on their walls. One cute idea is to create a mascot for your office. There are some companies that will create a custom plush mascot for you. You could leave these around the office. Not only will they add a fun touch for your employees, but clients and customers will enjoy spotting them when they visit your office.

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Image Source – Pixabay

Always Celebrate Special Occasions

One of the best ways to motivate your employees is by making them feel appreciated. And the best way to do this is to make them feel special when it is their birthday. So be sure to celebrate everyone’s birthday. You don’t have to go to too much trouble or expense. Simply buying a large cake that the whole company can enjoy is enough. Just remember to gather all your staff together for five minutes in the day so that the cake can be cut and you can sing happy birthday! Celebrating other events and occasions can also help to improve your office culture. For instance, enjoy Halloween by holding an apple bobbing contest. You can also organize a Secret Santa for Christmas. All of these celebrations will help your company feel like a family. Not only will it help your employees to bond, though, they will also feel like they are a valued member of the team. And that will spur them on to work even harder.

Think About Your Breakout Room

Break rooms are so 2006. Breakout rooms are all the fashion, and they will continue to be so until well into 2017. But how exactly is a breakout room any different than a standard break room? Well, in a break room, employees would normally only have a comfortable place to sit and read or chat. However, breakout rooms give employees a lot more. They usually feature a few games, such as table tennis or pool. Most companies add a TV and games console as well. All of these features allow your employees to completely forget their work during their break. That way, they can fully refresh their batteries. And by the time they get back to their desk, they will be a lot more motivated and ready to crack on with even more hard work. Don’t forget about adding some snacks and drinks to your breakout room. You don’t want your employees to be distracted by a rumbling stomach!

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Image Source – Pixabay

Get An Office Pet

Does one of your employees have a dog? Then why not allow them to bring it to work every day! This is doing them a huge favor, as they won’t have to worry about the dog being home alone all day. But it will also benefit all of your other staff. Studies show that an office pet has a very calming effect on employees. Pets are great stress relievers as your employees will be able to stroke and cuddle them whenever they need a bit of support!

So it shouldn’t be too difficult to create a fun company culture for your business. And once you do, you will notice that your employees will have never been so motivated!

About the Author

Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.