Saying goodbye to summer...

Tomorrow, September 22, is the first day of fall. Goodbye summer, goodbye beaches, vacations and steamy temperatures. Hello football, prime-time TV and sweater weather.

In celebration of the new season, we’re taking a look back at the great summer we had here at Thoughts from Training Time.

And taking a look back at the posts readers enjoyed most during the past few months:

1. 10 low-cost employee incentive ideas


2. Employee incentive ideas on a budget


3. 5 tips to build employee morale in a down economy


4. Friday office humor: Olympics at work


5. Employee recognition ideas on the cheap, it’s easier than you think


6. Great ice breaker ideas start with three words


7. New icebreaker activities for meetings


8. Creative Icebreaker Games: Guess Who?


9. Taking steps to improve employee morale


10. How to have fun at work: Work like a dog

Bring your (inner) child to work day

Time to get your dodgeballs and jump ropes ready, this Thursday, June 18, marks the sixth annual Recess at Work Day.

Held every year on the third Thursday in June, it’s a day set aside for “employees and employers to take a break from the stress of today’s economic worries and celebrate their successes.”

“It has been proven that breaks are essential for satisfaction,” says Rich DiGirolamo, founder of Recess at Work Day. “Breaks lead to satisfaction; and satisfaction easily transfers to increase morale, reduced employee stress, more engaged and healthier employees; ultimately having a positive impact on productivity, absenteeism and profits.”

There are no set rules to the day, just a mission to take a break from our daily work routines and get engaged in something fun with your peers.

It could be as simple as starting up a game of dodgeball or adding a new event to your office Olympics competition, as long as it gets you away from your desk and into something fun.

What are your thoughts on Recess at Work Day? Just a silly idea, or something to get excited about? Could you see your office participating?

Leave a comment and let us know.

Friday office humor: Olympics at work

The games have begun and chances are that one in ten employees will be watching some part of the 2008 Olympics at the office, according to a recent survey. Just like during March Madness, some employers are worried that employees will be watching more than working.

While those employers stress out over lost productivity and overloaded networks, others will embrace the games. With events like cubicle hurdles and the trash can long jump, people are finding ways to not just watch the Olympics at work, but participate in them as well.

Anyone who is familiar with “The Office” would probably smile when you mention “Office Olympics.” In one of the most memorable episodes from the second season, the boss is out and the Dunder Mifflin employees hold Olympic-style office competitions.

If you’re unfamiliar with the show, Lauren Kleinman at Jobacle wrote up instructions on how to hold your own Office Olympics, by simply following these four steps:

1. Promote it. No one will participate if they know it doesn’t exist. (With the big guys’ permission, of course) Hang fliers, send emails and wake up all the people sleeping on their desks and get them involved in the events.


2. Make it authentic. Make your events as much like the real Olympics as possible. Create fake torches, posters with the Olympic rings and download the official Olympic soundtrack.


3. Set up events. Office Olympic events can be completely set up with everyday objects in the office, take a look at some ideas from the Official Office Olympics site for “instructional” videos on events like the Office Chair Swamp, Chair Hop Do and Chariot Races.


4. Reward the winners. No Olympic event is complete without a medal ceremony. Create gold, silver and bronze medal equivalents with everyday items around the office. On “The Office,” Pam saved yogurt lids for the medals, attaching them to paperclip necklaces to get the full effect.

Let the games begin!