How to Create a More Active Workplace – 10 Simple Ideas
Creating a more active workplace doesn't have to mean installing an office gym, organising lunchtime workouts or getting the whole company to run a race together.
It can be much simpler than that.
It's about creating small reasons to get up, move and do something together during the working day.
Here are ten ideas that can work in almost any workplace.
1. Start with a group walk
Let's begin with the simplest idea.
Pick a time and take a short walk together. Ten or fifteen minutes is enough.
It could be after lunch, during the afternoon or at a regular time each week.
Keep it voluntary and easy.
2. Play round-the-table
If you have a table tennis table, round-the-table is an easy way to get several people moving at the same time.
Everyone moves around the table, taking turns to return the ball. Miss your shot and you're out until one winner remains.
Then the next round begins.
This means even a fairly large group can play together, and each round doesn't need to take very long.
3. Turn some meetings into walking meetings
Take a look at your calendar.
How many of this week's meetings really require everyone to sit in front of a screen?
A catch-up between two people can often happen just as easily during a walk. You get the meeting done while getting away from your desk for a while.
4. Set regular activity times
An activity that has to be organised from scratch every time is an activity that often doesn't happen.
Try fixed times instead.
At Wilson Creative, for example, we play round-the-table at 10 am and 3 pm every working day.
Of course, not everyone has to participate every time. But everyone knows it's happening.
That removes the small but important hurdle of somebody having to ask:
"Does anyone want to play?"
5. Start a challenge
Different people are motivated by different things. Some of us get a little extra motivation from competition.
Use it.
Let marketing challenge finance. Stockholm take on Gothenburg. The third floor compete against the fourth.
Or create an individual leaderboard.
A challenge could last a week, a month or an entire season.
With pingis.work, you can register games and results and follow the standings.
6. Take the stairs together
A simple activity doesn't even need a name.
If your office has several floors, choose the stairs whenever it's practical.
It might not be the workplace activity that gets the most likes on LinkedIn.
But creating an active workplace doesn't mean turning every bit of movement into an event.
7. Make the coffee break more active
A coffee break doesn't always have to mean moving from one chair to another.
Take your coffee outside. Combine the break with a short walk. Put out a simple game. Or play a round of table tennis before the coffee.
Being active doesn't mean losing the social part of the break.
Quite the opposite.
8. Organise a workplace table tennis tournament
Once regular play has got going, raise the stakes.
Organise your own company championship.
Play singles, doubles, King or round-the-table. Compete individually or in teams and finish with a final in front of the rest of the office.
And yes – a travelling trophy makes almost everything better.
9. Appoint activity ambassadors
HR doesn't need to organise every activity.
Instead, ask who at the workplace actually enjoys doing this kind of thing.
One person might want to get the table tennis going. Someone else could organise lunchtime walks. A third might run the company's running group.
When initiatives come from employees themselves, they can become part of the culture in a completely different way.
10. Ask your employees
This is the simplest idea and perhaps the most important.
Ask:
What would make you move a little more during your working day?
You don't have to guess what people want.
Some might want to play table tennis. Others would rather walk. Someone might want yoga. Another person might simply want a reason to step away from the computer more often.
An active workplace doesn't have to mean everyone doing the same thing.
Start small
It's easy to make workplace wellbeing initiatives too big.
Project group. Budget. Activity plan. Launch.
Try the opposite.
Choose one thing from this list and start next week.
If you have a table tennis table, it could be as simple as posting:
"Round-the-table at 3 pm. Everyone's welcome."
If three people show up the first time, you've started.
If five come the next time, you're beginning to build a habit.
And after a while, someone else might make sure the game starts without being asked.
That's when activity starts becoming culture.
Want to get more out of table tennis at work? With pingis.work, you can bring players together, register results and create challenges for your company.
