Why Games At Office?

Management Games for employees are one type of exercise or activity that companies practices for various reasons like team building, ice breaking, employee engagement, stress management, etc. According to a survey by Dale Carnegie, only 26% of employees agree that their organisation consider employee engagement a top priority. Moreover, in a recent report by Mercer, titles “Employee Engagement Index”, it was stated that despite there being a considerable number of engaged people in India, one in four employees would leave their job if they were given an opportunity.

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Importance of management games

Work should be enjoyable and not boring. We all must have heard about the terrible Monday Morning nightmares. But have we thought of it? Why do we refrain from going to offices on Mondays? Why are we never contented with our weekends? Why do we always wait for weekends? So that we can get some holiday and rest from work and break from office but majority of the employees if you see don't feel engaged with the company and aligned with its goals. Hence, to serve this purpose, management games came into the picture.

• Team Building

This is one of the best ways to identify a good team leader and team members. Team Building games or exercises often help the employees to understand their leadership qualities. A 2015 Gallup study shows that a highly engaged leadership team can boost employee engagement by upto 39%.

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For e.g. When you play games that make you a part of a team of strange members or of the other official teams, you often feel awkward and hesitate. You may even face ego clashes. But when you are playing a game that needs instantaneous decisions and you have an aim to win, you automatically accept the situation. The leader immediately and unconsciously derives his position and helps the team to win and others follow him/her in order to win. The team who fails to accept the leader, at the end loses.

• Ice Breaker

Management game does not only refer to a typical game with a proper setup. It can be a casual informal one. And when it comes to office especially on Mondays or in the afternoon post lunch, we definitely need some icebreakers.

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For e.g. The No Smiling Icebreaker, suggested by Govloop. Asking everyone not to smile in the first 5 minutes of the meeting can create and unbelievable humorous environment which would be enough to bring employees in a meeting mood.

• Employee Engagement

Have you ever seen the pictures of a Google Office? I believe if anyone sees it, definitely will urge to work with Google. They are so homely, one would never want to go home. You get everything a stress relieving massage, games room, personalised office space instead of boring cubicles, commuting, endless lap pools, etc. Moreover, if you don't like stairs, you can simply slide down the floors with their slides. What can be more engaging than such a homely environment? Recent statistics says that employees engaged companies earn upto 2.5 times more income.

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• Training

Management games are one of the finest ways when one wants to give training to its employees. According to Association for Talent Development, companies offering comprehensive training programs have 218% higher income per employee and enjoy 24% higher profit margin as mentioned in an article by Karla Gutierrez.

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For e.g. Walmart is one such company that has used management games a part of their training programs for the new joinees. All they have to do is download the app and participate in the simulated situations like responding to real life in-store scenarios without any actual on-the-job pressures. These simulations prepare the employees to handle situations on the floor.

• Better Understanding

Games are something that makes one feel lighter and not burdened or stressed. Employees feel relaxed and so they participate in an engaging manner in the games. This helps them to gain a better understanding of the culture, the policies, the varied personalities.

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For e.g. Every Friday, Kazoo organises team lunches on the rooftop if the company building that has an amazing view. During this, employees can talk their hearts out, considering personal as well official highs and lows. Occasionally, they also lead informative presentations around all the tables. Such activity boosts confidence of the employees and acts as an ice breaker for those introverts as well.

• Time Management

It was Ford Motor Company that made an astonishing decision in 1914 of 8 hours working day as mentioned in a blog. Because it was the first company to realise that worker's productivity increased when they had longer to recuperate. But now in this digital age, researchers have indicated that workers are actually spending less than 3 hours on work productively. This makes it essential to work on the time management skills of the employees.so

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For e.g. At AddRec, on the occasion of Annual event, every 2 years, they play various games for fun and entertainment. In the year 2018, they played a 1 minute game of Cup-A-Castle. There were teams and every team had to make a castle of a triangular shape in 1 minute using paper cups. The condition was to pick one cup at a time. This was a great time management lesson along with the team building exercise.

• Stress Reliever

Many games/exercises helps employees in releasing their stress. According to the statistics given by the American Institute of stress, 40% of workers reported their job was very stressful.

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For e.g. Elizabeth Rhymaun, Ex-Experience Manager, Bigcommerce says, “ We work hard but we also play hard.” Every friday they have yoga sessions, fun games like lip sync battle. They also have holiday decorating contests for free breakfast tacos. The employees say, this helps them to be stress free and happy.

Examples of Management games

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• KEC

They are stationed across the globe and their task was to engage people stationed in 30 countries. So they started organising online games like a football league caled KIFA and a cricket tournament called KPL apart from competitions around themes like history of company, cinema, etc. “For us, fun goes beyond trying to reduce work stress.” - Late Mr. Yugesh Gautam, ex-Vice president, HR.

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• L&T

MS Krishnamoorthy, Chairman and MD AM Naik adviser on HR matters says, “We've introduced fun activities because we want to motivate people to realise their potential, even outside of work.” In September, the company roped in singer-songwriter Shankar Mahadevan’s online music academy to provide lessons to 250 employees via Skype. Also Terrence Lewis conducts classes for L&T staffers all year round. Also there is a quizzing and a management film festival.

• RPG Group

RPG believes in creating success together, it believes in its people and stands by them. It provides an open environment to its employees. Festivals and birthdays are celebrated with equal passion. Offices have been designed in a way so as to foster their creativity and communication, bringing a little bit of home into work everyday. There is a designated ChillZone equipped with a music station, video games, pool tables and a library.

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• Puma

Puma is successfully facing rapidly growing demands regarding its attractiveness as an employer by providing a holistic approach that includes individual development, talent management and benefits. This makes them an employer of choice. They have developed a concept of Wellbeing@PUMA. This offers them with one time sports event in a year and regular sports courses. Their headquarters in germany received certificate for ‘audit beruf & familie’ in 2015. The workforce with the average age of 33 were allowed to make arrangements regarding their working conditions in 2015. They have huge slide for employees to use instead of staircase, funky interiors, a punching bag, a climbing wall and a designated space for mini-cricket tournaments as mentioned in an article.

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• McD

McD has been called the best first job employer and a great place to work for. They provide the liberty to its employees to do multiple things to bond with everyone. They provide flexibility with their shift timings to accommodate their other personal commitments. The company's chief happiness officer visits outlets, dressed as mascot Ronald McDonald to spread cheer among staff and customers. He clowns around, distributes thank you notes for a job well done.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". - Stanley Kubrick is a very old saying but still applicable. When you are a child, you are taught things in varied ways, similarly, to teach employees, we need to explore numerous and the most effective and fascinating way.