The Fun Stuff at the Job

**pluckyduck** · #1 11-06-2002, 10:07 AM

Anybody have any unusual fun perqs at his/her job? Ideas for imaginative ones that you couldn't get your own place of business to bite on?

The New Building is just around the corner for us.

We might be in end of April, although it will possibly take until June. (If that doesn't sound around the corner to you, please take into account that this project is four years in the making.)

We're considered a fun place to work for people who like to hang out with quirky people. We're also a bit of a nightmare for folks who crave traditional settings and structure (you'd be amazed how many people like that there are). I can't help the people who want an office with a window, a potted plant and a normal routine, they need to get a job at a bank....but I'm thinking to stretch my imagination with the new building and see what I come up with.

Dogs

We're a serious dog hangout after 5PM. Folks who are working late go home, get their dogs, and come back. (Yes, our carpet has been territory marked and barfed upon...no one seems to care. We like dogs.

) I've already proposed a fenced in area just for dogs on the property.

(The lady in the warehouse with the baby chijaujah <--- don't make me look that up brought her own fence during the summer, but, um, it didn't take much of a fence.)

Books

Been taking an informal survey, and there are a ton of readers at work. Many of us read the same kinds of popular mystery thriller books (Patterson, Sanford, Grisham-when-he-was-good ) ... and there are many parents of small children who are, of course, in constant need of books.

Right now, we exchange books and magazines occasionally by throwing them on the lunch table, but I'd love to give the written word the respect it deserves by making an official space for it. Haven't quite figured it out yet. I want to give a book exchange official recognition and support without anyone having to administer anything.

Okay, I've got dogs and books, two of life's most important elements. (Daycare is out of the question,

, NJ regulations make it impossible but for all of the largest employers.)

What else?

Andrea

**lynnzop**[$] · #2 11-06-2002, 10:16 AM

Toys. Lots of toys.

(But not the kind you can buy at drugstore.com

)

You are in a creative business, and having fun stuff to goof around with is good. The best place I ever had a meeting was in a conference room full of toys.

Maybe you could put in an adult ball pit? I've always thought that would be sort of fun!

Another idea some friends and I have been kicking around for a while is to set up a hot dog stand. (Don't ask.

These are VP/SVP level people looking for something fun to do after they retire at age 45.) Instead of a hot dog vendor, maybe you can get some fun kitchen gadgets to use for preparing lunch. I'll have to see if I can find a picture of the hot dog cooker at Sears that my brother thought was the coolest thing since, well, hot dogs.

A popcorn cart?

Lynn
running away because she knows how much Andrea hates the smell of popcorn in the office

**lynnzop**[$] · #3 11-06-2002, 10:17 AM

Oh yeah. And if you haven't already done the conference rooms, make sure you get walls you can write on. They are GREAT. (Of course, you don't allow anything but wipe-off markers in the rooms.)

Lynn

**slick4591**[$] · #4 11-06-2002, 10:21 AM

Criminals. I have lots of young wanna-be gangstas to look at. Ya'll want them?

theeye · #5 11-06-2002, 10:57 AM

I assume you've already got food. A well-stocked refrigerator (and freezer, of course). We actually order in lunch every day at the company's expense (it's a double-edged sword -- keeps people in the office, you see).

I agree with the toys notion. We've got a bunch of board games (Pictionary, Taboo, backgammon, Trivial Pursuit, etc.).

I'm guessing it's too late to build in a shower. That's always nice for people who like to take a morning run. (It's really nice for the people who need to work next to the people who like to take a morning run.)

Couches. Comfy couches. The sort that you can stretch out on and take a nap.

Place to stow bicycles.

A collection of loaner umbrellas for when people forget to check the weather report.

A dart board, of course. Foosball, if you have room. A pool table, if you have a lot of room.

Hm. A climbing wall? (Might be some liability issues there.)

hypotenuse · #6 11-06-2002, 11:30 AM

A dart board and a rubic's cube.

Now that's my kinda employer.

Lynne - who is perfectly serious

**theworm**[$] · #7 11-06-2002, 11:33 AM

I like my job a lot, but I think you all work in a much more fun environment than I!
I never got games or food at work, but I do get cold water and peace of mind.
I love the idea of dogs in the workplace, but no one I work with has a dog. There are only 4 of us, and I'm the only one with pets.

**Joubert**[$] · #8 11-06-2002, 11:55 AM

A popcorn cart - get 'em for about $500 and light up the office every afternoon with the smell of fresh popcorn popping.

A television mounted to the ceiling in the lunchroom with a cable or satellite hookup.

Movie exchanges are fun too. People who have VHS tapes or DVDs can bring them in if they no longer want them and receive a credit to take one out. First come, first served and put someone in charge.

**lynnzop**[$] · #9 11-06-2002, 01:16 PM

Something someone suggested here was to have a room with a fold out futon...if someone is working an odd shift or is not feeling well (but not bad enough to go home) they can lie down. Of course, you'd have to administer clean sheets.

A great perk we have here is a professional massuese (can't spell) who comes in twice a week and gives chair massages (the kind you sit backward in and she just does your back, shoulders and arms while you are fully clothed). Employees pay for the service (ours are $10/session) but the company provides the access. The massuese brings in her own chair.

Maybe you can have other in-house services - manicures, pedicures, barber? Or a conceirge that will run errands for your employees?

Okay, I'm getting off "fun" and into perks..but they do make life easier. Our concierge also has gift-type items available (gift baskets, small jewelry, etc.,) and stamps.

**pluckyduck** · #10 11-06-2002, 02:26 PM

You guys are great.

Food
The general complaint around here is that we are too well supplied with food.

The nature of our business, being a sales organization, means that we have a steady supply of suppliers and suppliers reps trying to woo us with food. (It generally works.)

The company supplies free coffee and tea and hot chocolate and such. Sodas are .50 each. Little snack shop in, believe or not, some guy's office. One way or another, there is usually a free lunch at least once a week. (Either a supplier or our company buying.)

I really like the popcorn machine idea. We usually have free microwave popcorn lying about, but invariably some idiot burns it in the microwave and the place just stinks. Yick.

Conciege services

We're not quite big enough for most of that. We've got 65 employees (70 in the new building). We do have a dry cleaner who picks up and delivers every week, have for years, and that's very nice.

Our warehouse manager lives out in farm country, so during season, he'll buy bushells of corn or fruits and vegetables, and we can pick stuff up from him in the back.

The masseuse idea would go over great....I do have to watch for how distracting everything might be during a work day, though. It's one thing to say that folks should do it on their lunch, but it's another thing to actually have to police if people are spending too much time hanging around the masseuse, or anybody else we might bring in. I don't want to police anything.

Kitchen

I love the idea of making the kitchen more homey with cool gadgets or stuff in it. (Any excuse to buy an appliance and I'm there!) It might be fun to set it up to look like a real kitchen, and not an office kitchen. Have to check...I think I heard they were planning on putting in a full kitchen with an oven and stove top and dishwasher and such, but I'm might be wrong.

Toys

We tend to be awfully immature, anyway. (I lead the pack). Not sure I want actual games here....our business doesn't lend itself to encouraging people to break out a board game when the phones are ringing... We do have a bunch of cool stuff hanging around anyway (you can imprint slinkies and bouncy balls and all kinds of toys, so we've got 'em).

We wanted to put a basketball court and barbecue grill in at our current location, but ran into problems with insurance (as I understand it).

Oh, I think we're finally going to get our fish tank. We were supposed to have a huge fish tank and a fish service with this building, but it never quite happened. Since we've been looking to move for four years now, nobody was inclined to rectify that.

I love fish tanks. They calm me down.

Keep 'em coming.

Andrea

CurtisEdmonds · #11 11-06-2002, 03:16 PM

Not a lot of fun perks at a university, but some; cheap football tickets; less-expensive basketball tickets, etc.

**lynnzop**[$] · #12 11-06-2002, 04:00 PM

I like the fish tank idea...I was going to suggest it but forgot to.

Just think of all the eps you can write about the cool kitchen stuff you'll buy.

On the massages....(I'm going to quit trying to spell massuese)...what we have is a small conference room that the girl sets herself up in every week, I think she sets up shop from 11-2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You sign up for a 20 minute time slot ahead of time, and then she handles all the money, setting up her chair, everything. The company basically doesn't have to do or monitor anything. And no one really "hangs out" there unless it's getting close to their appointment time.

Don't forget music. (Piped in of some sort) Play a variety of up beat stuff, maybe even hold contests where the winning area gets to pick what the PA system plays for an upcoming week.

Have you thought about decor? I still like the write on walls in the conference rooms, but you could extend that to having easels throughout the area with blank flip charts on them. We have these set up, and people will do anything from ongoing tic-tac-toe games to writing a question of the day "What movie do you want to see next" that gets answered by anyone who passes by. Use the good smelling markers.

Lynn
full of fun ideas

**pluckyduck** · #13 11-06-2002, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lynnzop
[b]I like the fish tank idea...I was going to suggest it but forgot to.

Just think of all the eps you can write about the cool kitchen stuff you'll buy.

On the massages....(I'm going to quit trying to spell massuese)...what we have is a small conference room that the girl sets herself up in every week, I think she sets up shop from 11-2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You sign up for a 20 minute time slot ahead of time, and then she handles all the money, setting up her chair, everything. The company basically doesn't have to do or monitor anything. And no one really "hangs out" there unless it's getting close to their appointment time.

That sounds fun.

Quote:

Don't forget music. (Piped in of some sort) Play a variety of up beat stuff, maybe even hold contests where the winning area gets to pick what the PA system plays for an upcoming week.

Ack, no way.

There have been more music battles in Happy Valley than anything else (save temperature battles)

Our current policy is that everybody can duke it out with his/her neighbor. I'd never be responsible for even choosing the person who chooses what to play.

Quote:

Have you thought about decor? I still like the write on walls in the conference rooms, but you could extend that to having easels throughout the area with blank flip charts on them. We have these set up, and people will do anything from ongoing tic-tac-toe games to writing a question of the day "What movie do you want to see next" that gets answered by anyone who passes by. Use the good smelling markers.

I like the idea of lots of whiteboards and stuff. I'm not going to be able to pick the decor' for the building as a whole, though I might have influence....I'm probably going to be able to pick what we do for my division (the whole first floor), but, my name isn't on the deed, you know, so who knows?

(Family business, company president is also the mother of the family and she likes to decorate

)

I have given thought, though, that if I do, we're going with Matisse', Van Gough and Chagall....my three favorite artists. Absolutely nothing looks like this

Blech.

Andrea

theeye · #14 11-06-2002, 06:34 PM

Oh, I don't know, Andrea. You could pick up a few posters at Despair.com.

Like this one:

theeye · #15 11-06-2002, 06:36 PM

I particularly like this one:

magenta321 · #16 11-06-2002, 06:50 PM

Ok, this isn't fun, but, it is a nice, nice, nice touch -- I work in a women's center, and they provide free tampons and pads. It's so nice to never have to worry that you "forgot" supplies, and have to sheepishly ask all the women in your department for one.

We have pens. Fun pens. We bring 'em in though. I have a frog pen and a rubber ducky pen. Other people have different odd pens. That way no one steals your pen. If someone does, you can catch them and yell at them.

The lunchroom has a tv and vcr and big comfy couches.

At my old job we had flower service. We had potted plants, and the flower lady would come in and water, deadhead, and swap plants regularly.

Now that the weather is getting bad, we're going to start bringing exercise tapes in to work. At the end of the day we'd always walk together. Now I guess we'll do exercise videos together. This will also be in the lunch room, since that's the only place with a vcr other than the doctor's offices.

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #17 11-06-2002, 07:39 PM

Crazy contests, like the "figure out which of these baby pictures is one of your coworkers."

Theme days once a month. Especially nice to have luau day in mid-January.

Pot lucks, if you get your real kitchen.

Multi-cultural day, where everyone brings in foods representative of his/her culture. Some people even dress up.

I like the white board/grafetti area idea. Flipchart paper and markers can work too.

Book club - we wanted to start one at my job but we're all too busy

From a health standpoint, you can sponsor smokenders meetings or weight watchers meetings if there are enough employees to fit the category. I wish they would arrange for weight watchers at our job because so many people are on it and so many of them are commuters - it would be mondo helpful for them if they could attend a weekly meeting during their lunch hour.

**Joubert**[$] · #18 11-06-2002, 08:18 PM

Aquariums are work, guys. Make sure you have someone who knows what they're doing.

jenninca · #19 11-06-2002, 08:34 PM

Ummm...

Ummmmm...

Ummmmmmmmm...

Darn it, I work at a school! It's supposed to be fun there! Why is it that I can't think of a single fun thing the grownups have? The most fun thing I can think of is pretending to dance outside the Kindergarten room while they're singing and watching the K teacher try to keep a straight face.

There's not even a TV to watch. On 9/11/01, we had to watch the 13" with the bunny ears and rolling screen. The ones in our rooms are VCR/computer only--no channels.

Gee, I'm sad now.

Cindy

**pluckyduck** · #20 11-06-2002, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mjfrombuffalo
Crazy contests, like the "figure out which of these baby pictures is one of your coworkers."

Theme days once a month. Especially nice to have luau day in mid-January.

Pot lucks, if you get your real kitchen.

Multi-cultural day, where everyone brings in foods representative of his/her culture. Some people even dress up.

I like the white board/grafetti area idea. Flipchart paper and markers can work too.

Book club - we wanted to start one at my job but we're all too busy

From a health standpoint, you can sponsor smokenders meetings or weight watchers meetings if there are enough employees to fit the category. I wish they would arrange for weight watchers at our job because so many people are on it and so many of them are commuters - it would be mondo helpful for them if they could attend a weekly meeting during their lunch hour.

I love you darling, but I'm not struck with some sudden desire to become a cruise director.

Crazy contests are coming from me.

(not entirely true -- we do contests from time to time, but they tend to be strictly work related...and nothing I have to do)

Honestly, we do okay with the social stuff. My division goes out dinner together once a quarter (on our dime and yes, we pay for drinks

) There are enough birthdays and baby showers and wedding showers to keep us in enough pot lucks to fill my please-distract-me-from-work-watch-the-money-fly-out-the-window needs.

We also do a very nice Lets Play Dress Up holiday party.

As far as health stuff goes, I know that the company president wants to do more. She's offered to bring in a smokenders class, but pointedly brings it up the only member of senior management who smokes

. I think she's waiting for me to sign on.

Weight Watchers would be great. I don't think we have enough people who would join, but when we get in the new place and I get a feel for it, I just might check it out. Of course, I'll be thin and $500 richer by that time. (see H & F thread)

In any event, the new digs have me thinking about how much work and home are alike. Just a few things (scented candles, whatever) can make a big difference in a home.

People used to burn scented candles at work until that little fire :fire: , and then we had to stop that.

Andrea