Creative ideas to celebrate birthdays in the office.
Birthdays only come once a year, but in an office of many people it seems like they happen every day. Basic cakes, party hats, and gag gifts can grow tedious, and disrupt the workday.
Here are a few alternatives to your average punch-and-cake party.
Decorate. Decorate an employee’s office or workspace. Who doesn’t love paper streamers? Well, a lot of people. Party poopers, for one. The rest of the office will enjoy torturing them with balloons and confetti. An over-all morale booster.
Send them to lunch. Being taken out for lunch by the boss is not always a reward. Sometimes it’s awkward and uncomfortable. Sending your workers off to lunch on their own means they’ll be able to relax and have more fun. Sad but true, boss. (Alternate: order take-out for the birthday person. They can choose to eat in the lunchroom with others, or veg in their office with their iPod and copy of Guns and Ammo magazine.)
Give them a privilege. First pick of muffins on Muffin Friday. Final say on what day the next monthly sales meeting falls on. Solitary Bathroom Pass. (This pass means that for an entire day they can kick everyone out of the company restroom while they use it. This Bathroom Pass was just invented, but is sure to catch on nation-wide.) Real privileges like choosing a shift will please any employee.
Relieve them of a duty. They can skip plant-watering or restaurant side-work on their birthday. The down-side is that other employees will have to pick up the slack, but most will be happy to do it knowing that on their birthday the same will apply to them.
Let 'em leave. For hourly workers, nothing beats getting to leave early on their birthday—on the clock, of course. A half hour of work-free birthday time, on the company, beats generic supermarket cake and a half-hearted happy birthday song any day.
Casual birthday. Let them work in jeans. Even if it’s Monday. Dare to dream!
Ignore it. Seriously. You’re not seven years old. (Note: if you’re employing seven-year-olds, that is illegal.) Grown-ups don’t need cakes and hats and cards signed by everyone in the company including Jane in accounting who doesn’t even know what the birthday boy looks like, which will be thrown away later that afternoon. So Bob from shipping turned 36? Let him celebrate on his own time. If he wants to bring in a cake of his own, that’s his prerogative.
Instead of planning another tired 15-minute long insincere birthday celebration, try one or more of these ideas to acknowledge a birthday in a creative way.
