Ask most people to picture a corporate office and they may describe gray walls, rows of desks, and the steady hum of printers. “Fun” may not be the first word that comes to mind. Yet FISH! Philosophy activities can help teams bring more energy, connection, and enjoyment into daily work without turning the office into a forced party.

Fun matters because work takes up a large part of our lives. It also helps people build relationships, think in new ways, and feel that they have some say in how their day goes. The FISH! Philosophy offers four connected practices: Be There, Play, Make Their Day, and Choose Your Attitude. Together, they show managers how to have fun in the workplace while still taking the work seriously.

Fun cannot be forced. It grows when people feel respected, included, trusted, and able to bring some of their real selves to work. That foundation matters more than ordering everyone to smile or scheduling a silly activity every Friday.

Be There: Build the relationships that make fun possible

Fun at work starts with relationships. In a Bright HR survey of more than 2,000 employees, one of the most common descriptions of workplace fun was having great colleagues people enjoyed spending time with. That makes sense: a game or outing feels different when people trust one another and feel welcome.

To Be There means giving the person in front of you your attention. Listen to a coworker’s idea instead of preparing your reply. Ask a follow-up question. Notice when someone has had a difficult week. Celebrate a win when it happens. These small actions build trust. They help people relax, share ideas, and be themselves.

Managers can make this easier with regular one-on-one check-ins and technology-free time during selected meetings. A meeting without open laptops or phones can give people room to notice one another and join the conversation. It does not fit every situation, so use it when focused discussion matters. Informal conversations can also help creativity. People often explore ideas more freely when they are not reading from an agenda.

Be There also means making room for different personalities. Some people enjoy a lively group game, while others connect better through a conversation, a shared project, or a walk at lunch. A fun office does not require every person to act the same way.

Play: Make room for creativity and new ideas

In FISH!, Play brings curiosity, flexibility, and a willingness to try something new to the workday. It helps people challenge old assumptions, learn, and find creative answers to real problems. A playful team may still be focused and productive.

That can look like a traditional activity. Try an office field day, a trip to an old-school arcade, or a guess-the-jar game with candy at the front desk. An office scavenger hunt can help new employees learn the building and meet coworkers from other departments. A short team challenge can add energy to a training session or help a group practice communication. Play can also be built into the work itself. Ask a team to brainstorm ten ways to improve a routine before judging any of the ideas. Let employees lead a skill-sharing session. Invite them to redesign a process, test a new approach, or create a team name for a project. When people can experiment within clear goals and boundaries, work becomes more engaging because they have a chance to shape the result.

Trust is essential here. An auto dealership owner once saw two technicians tossing a football near the service area during a break. At first, he was unsure about it. Later, he heard one technician say that playing catch so close to the cars did not feel right. The employees understood the business and adjusted their own behavior. Leaders can create the same kind of trust by explaining the playing field and letting employees take ownership of what is appropriate. A football near equipment would not fit every workplace, but the larger lesson does.

A fun committee can keep ideas moving, but it should not become the only group responsible for office spirit. Invite people to suggest activities, rotate leadership, and ask what would actually help the team. If an activity creates pressure or excludes people, change it.

Three coworkers adding ideas to a whiteboard of sticky notes, showing the FISH! Philosophy practice of Play in a team brainstorm

Making room for ten ideas before choosing one turns a routine meeting into a playful, interactive brainstorm.

Make Their Day: Use small, genuine gestures

Making someone’s day means looking for a useful or meaningful way to brighten another person’s experience. In the FISH! story, the fishmongers engage customers and create memories instead of standing apart from them. In an office, the same practice might mean recognizing a contribution, helping a teammate solve a problem, or making a routine moment feel personal.

Simple gestures still work when they are genuine. Put out a candy bowl at the front desk. Bring in Monday bagels. Plan a holiday outing that gives people a real chance to connect. Thank someone for the work that is easy to overlook, such as helping a new hire, answering a customer question, or staying with a project when it became difficult. A recognition note from a manager or teammate can mean more than a general announcement because it shows that someone noticed.

These gestures cannot cover up deeper problems. A pizza lunch does not replace fair treatment, manageable workloads, good benefits, or a manager who listens. But when a team is working to get those fundamentals right, a thoughtful surprise can add warmth and help people feel valued.

Give people choices when you plan an activity. Offer more than one way to take part in a holiday event, and avoid treating attendance as a test of loyalty. Ask employees what would make a busy week easier or more enjoyable. Then follow through on some of what you hear. Attention and follow-through often matter more than a large budget.

Choose Your Attitude: Set the tone without pretending

Every day brings circumstances we cannot control, but we can choose how we show up in them. Choose Your Attitude asks us to notice our response and decide what kind of presence we want to bring to the team. A difficult situation still deserves care and support; a positive attitude is not a demand to ignore stress.

Leaders set the tone first. If a manager treats every activity as pointless, employees will sense that. When the manager joins in, listens to concerns, and stays open to lightheartedness, others may feel safer trying it too. A manager who greets each person by name can start the day with connection. The attitude behind that action matters more than the ritual.

Leaders and teammates shape the office through their daily choices. A person who brings patience to a tense conversation can change its direction. Someone who welcomes a new idea can give the whole group more energy. Choose Your Attitude starts with each person, then spreads through the team.

How to Make Corporate Training Fun

Start with a real purpose, explain how the session connects to the team’s work, and create an experience instead of reading slides at people. Use a short FISH! film clip, small-group questions, a creative challenge, or a walk-around activity. Change the room, add color, play music as people arrive, or use a simple object that gives participants something to discuss. Then let them connect the lesson to their own experiences.

Training becomes more useful when participants have a voice. Ask, “What would Be There look like with our customers?” or “What could we change in this process if we gave ourselves more room to Play?” End with one action each person wants to try. Managers should support that action after the session, because a lively training event means little if the workplace sends people back to old habits.

FISH! Philosophy activities a manager can try

Use this list as a starting point, then ask the team which ideas fit its culture, schedule, and work:

  • Hold an office field day with options for different abilities and interests.
  • Take the team to an old-school arcade or offer a low-cost game-based outing.
  • Set up a guess-the-jar game with candy and let people add their guesses during breaks.
  • Keep a candy bowl available as a small welcome or conversation starter.
  • Plan a holiday outing with more than one way to participate.
  • Bring in Monday bagels and use the first few minutes for real connection.
  • Organize an office scavenger hunt that introduces people to coworkers, resources, or company history.
  • Create a rotating fun committee that gathers ideas and checks whether activities feel inclusive.
  • Try a technology-free meeting when the purpose calls for focused conversation.
  • Run a creative brainstorm where ideas are collected before they are evaluated.
  • Start a peer-recognition board or a weekly thank-you round.
  • Add a short skill-sharing session to a team meeting.
  • Give employees a choice of activities during training instead of requiring one kind of participation.

The four practices work together. Be There helps people feel safe enough to join in. Play gives them room to explore. Make Their Day turns attention outward, toward coworkers and customers. Choose Your Attitude helps each person decide how to contribute. A joke that leaves someone out misses the spirit of Be There. An activity that creates stress or ignores the work misses the spirit of Make Their Day. Used together, the practices keep corporate office fun respectful, useful, and human.

Ideas to Reflect On

  • What’s the most fun you’ve ever had at work? Was it a work task, or an activity that was a break from your normal duties?
  • Have you ever felt yourself not having fun at a work activity when you felt you should? What could have been done to further engage you?
  • Do you have relationships with your team? Do you think you could have fun with them outside of a corporate setting? If so, how can you bring that feeling into the office as well?
  • When your workplace tried to create fun, what made the experience feel genuine rather than forced?
  • Do employees in repetitive roles have a voice in what makes their work more enjoyable? What could you ask them this week?

Bring more fun into the office one practice at a time

A fun corporate office grows through daily habits: people pay attention to one another, use creativity, notice good work, and take responsibility for the attitude they bring. A ping-pong table or a calendar full of parties may have a place, but neither one creates connection by itself. Start with one conversation, one small gesture, or one activity your team chooses together. From there, let the four FISH! practices become part of how work gets done.

Ready to put these ideas into practice? Try the FISH! Philosophy upgraded trial, which gives your team 30 days of access to the FISH! film and its digital guides. Use the materials to start a conversation, make training more engaging, and find practical ways to bring more fun into your office.