With people beginning to report back to their offices, you might be interested in doing something special for the 4th of July. If so, here are a few ideas to get your mind turning on how to get the most out of one of the most-celebrated holidays in the nation.
Decorations, Decorations, and More Decorations!
First and most obvious, you’ll want to devote a portion of your budget to some good, old fashioned Americana decorations. Red white and blue streamers, banners, flags, napkins, plates and more. It won’t take much money to turn your office into a star-spangled wonderland.
Food
No 4th of July celebration would be complete without food. If you can afford it, strongly consider catering lunch for your crew, but if not, organize a committee and have them arrange a potluck lunch, where everyone brings their favorite Independence Day dishes.
You could even turn the food into a competition, awarding prizes for the best burgers, dogs, potato salad, dessert, or whatever other bits of deliciousness your employees come up with.
Music
Put one of your committee members in charge of creating a 4th of July playlist. True, you may not be able to play the music nonstop – you do have a business to run, after all, but when and where possible, the music will definitely add to the festive feel of the day.
Games And Contests
There are a wide range of games and contests you can introduce to the day to add a bit of friendly competition to the day. This could be anything from toilet paper bowling to a pinata, to various team building games you may already know and have in your back pocket.
Incorporate An Awards Ceremony
Finally, if you already have a reward and recognition program in place, your Independence Day celebration is a great time to incorporate a round of gift giving and recognition to your hard-working staff to show them just how much you appreciate all that they do for your company.
If you don’t yet have a recognition program, the 4th of July is a great time to roll one out. To do so, although you’ll have final say over what metrics are the most important, your employees should definitely have buy in on the overall shape of the program that gets developed.
The best way to accomplish this is to form a committee just for the purpose of developing, steering and managing the recognition program, give them your vision and the metrics you’re most interested in tracking and improving, then get out of the way and let them run with it. You’ll be amazed at what they come up with.
Finally, bear in mind that you don’t have to spend a ton of money on awards and rewards. It’s not really the size of the prize that matters, it’s the fact that you take the time to recognize the contributions of those who work for you. That’s how you improve morale and turn a good 4th of July celebration into a great one.