Office Olympics!

Tom Hay’s book ‘Office Olympics’ book can get the whole office into the mood for this year’s Games, which will be held in London in just over 90 days. Liven up that dreary day in the office with a few team building, competitive, fun Olympic-style games, using supplies you can find in any office.

Tom Hay's book

    So get creative and see what you can come up with, give ‘Office Olympics’ a read, or try our top 5 examples!

1.     Biro Javelin:

Everyone wonders how anyone can manage to hold up a heavy javelin, let alone throw it anywhere. But take the easy route and try it with biros or ballpoint pens. Line up the competitors at the end of a long desk on one side of a room large enough for throwing and movement. Allow players to throw their pen (one colour per competitor), one at a time and leave it to the referee to verify the winner.

2.     Chair Racing:

 It’s as classic as a BLT. Office Chair racing! Find a corridor wide enough for two ‘athletes’ to travel down at once. Either allow players to select someone to push them down the corridor for extra speed, or allow players to use all the power of their legs to get them to the end of the corridor first. Make sure you have a referee at the beginning and end of each race to make sure there is a fair start and the winner is correctly spotted.

3.     Rubbish Basketball:

All offices get messy. Any room with more than one person in it for over a few minutes is bound to get untidy over time. Make use the office chairs again and make sure each player is sat comfortable about a metre away from a waste-paper bin with several balls of scrap paper. If the players are find the game too easy, make sure they move backwards in between rounds to make the competition a little tougher.

4.     Refreshments Relay:

No one ever wants to be the one to take the two metre walk to the coffee machine or kettle to fuel the finds of their co-workers every morning. But you’ll be fighting over wanting to be coffee boy or girl with Refreshments Relay! Make sure the corridor you use is wide enough for a few competitors to comfortable run along as fast as possible with a tray full of food and drink. As the competition continues, load the trays with more food or drink that’s difficult to hold or heavy.

5.     Mouse-Mat Discus:

Discus is always a difficult one. Consider the fact that you’re effectively throwing a plastic-style plate as far as possible, and hoping it doesn’t just roll right back to you. But have you ever considered using a bit of a lighter material? Mouse mats for instance? Clear a large enough room in or around the office for a few players to have space to throw a mouse-mat a fair distance. Make sure you have a referee that can see each player laugh their mouse-mat one after the other, and another to see which one lands the furthest away.

    Rather than competing with Bolt in the 100-metre sprint at London 2012, why not break the ice in the office and bring the Games to work?

You can buy Tom Hay’s 2011 book ‘Office Olympics’ from all good book retailers, including www.amazon.com, www.waterstones.com and www.whsmith.com