The 2018 FIFA Russia World Cup is now in full swing, with 32 nations from across the world competing for glory. Every 4 years, the summer is taken over with football news, with many forgetting about the regular news and simply enjoying watching games.
Time difference has played havoc with the schedule for football fans, with many games being played during the normal working day.
In order to keep your staff focused on their task and have minimal effect on productivity/absenteeism, here are a few ideas to maintain that positive atmosphere in the office and encourage team spirit.
1. Activities to increase employee engagement
Increasing employee engagement is a great source of motivation in the company. For example, organising a variety of internal activities such as an internal food tournament by cooking international specialties coming from the different nationalities, or playing your own World Cup with awards for the best players.
2. More flexible working time
Setting flexible working time can lead to better autonomy and productivity during the working day and job satisfaction. However, flexi-time has to be defined with strict rules for this temporary ‘sporty’ period.
3. Games on & productive staff
Screening the tournament on a TV in the office on mute lets your staff be aware of the results without being distracted, especially if they are working with deadlines.
4. Team spirit improvement
Showing games in the office after work gives your employees the chance to engage with other members of the team that they don’t know or you don’t often meet. This is a sure fire way to build relationships and improve team spirit.
5. International atmosphere
Finally, if you’re an international company, think about decorating the office in a football theme. Bunting/flags is a good way to add value to diversity and help build relationships/comradery between departments or get to know more employees who have a different culture.
At Annapurna, we have over 80 employees from all over the world. We have tied in the World Cup fever to our charity arm of the business, Annapurna Giving, by organising a sweepstake which donates a portion of the winnings directly to charities that we support.