Every two years, Olympic fever sweeps workplaces worldwide.
Water coolers, break rooms, and group chats buzz with banter about the opening ceremony, medal counts, and that obscure sport that Armond in accounting could definitely qualify for if he tried. (Seriously, curling is his secret calling.)
Savvy leaders see all that employee excitement and organize a team social around the Olympics, perhaps a viewing party or themed-trivia.
However, true champions (we’re talking, the Simone Biles of the HR world,) go above and beyond and plan Olympic-themed employee engagement events nothing short of epic.
We rounded up stories of Olympic team building from companies including Indeed, Uber, and many more.
Then, we called on the teambuilding.com customer experience, sales, and host teams to vote on the most medal-worthy submissions.
Here are the top picks!*
How to do work Olympics: ideas and tips from top teams
Here are examples of extraordinary employee engagement HR ideas for the Olympics in the office.
1. Passing the Torch (Gold)
“This year we decided to host an Office Olympics to coincide with the Olympic Games. We kicked off the games by “passing the torch.”
I started the torch passing by posting a photo of myself with a candle and then tagged two other people “passing the flame” to them. They posted a pic with a flashlight/lightsaber/candle and tagged two more people.
There were some hilarious photoshop contributions and even a flamethrower by the time it passed to our CEO who “lit the torch” during our All Hands and officially kicked off the games.
Over the course of the next two weeks we then had daily challenges posted in Slack. The team could earn points towards the medals through a variety of methods:
- Win the daily challenge (3pts)
- Post a video of themself “breaking” in the #photos channel (2pts)
- Completing an activity in our wellness app (1pt)
Points were added up at the end of the week and the person with the most points took home bragging rights and a gift card to their favorite wellness brand.
Activities included:
- Write a national anthem for our company
- Post a pic of your pet competing in an Olympic game (we love our pets!)
- Bake-off – post a pic and recipe of your favorite French cuisine
- Best AI generated art that reflected the motto of “games wide open” (celebrating diversity/inclusion)
Employees said it was a nice break from the day-to-day!”
– Amber Master, Freestar
2. Olympic-themed Socials and Team Challenges (Silver)
“We had a blast with the Olympics this year! Despite our company’s current budget constraints and a distributed workforce, we managed to have a lot of fun.
We curated a handful of events that were both budget-friendly and catered to our local and remote employees, ensuring that everyone could join in and enjoy the excitement.
- Olympic Step for Gold Challenge: This was a step challenge in which employees tracked their daily steps over the two weeks of the Olympics. Participants competed individually and as part of a team. With 18 participants (50 person company), we clocked over two million steps!
- Guess Who: Star Achievers Edition: Employees shared awards, achievements, hidden talents, or accolades featured in various “Guess Who” style, trivia-related activities.
- Feast of Champions: Employees participated in a potluck-style lunch where they prepared and brought a dish inspired by their culture, heritage, or country/cuisine of interest. We enjoyed the lunch at our office while watching some live Olympic events.
- Virtual Live Stream and Work Sessions: We hosted virtual live streaming of popular Olympic events via Google Meet and encouraged employees to tune in, engage in friendly banter over the chat channel, and (maybe) get some work done.”
– Degory Heiden, Double Line, Inc.
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3. Quarter-long Olympics – (Bronze)
“It started with an Opening ceremony on February 29th (a special date that also occurs only once every 4 years) with a torch-lighting – a video where we digitally embedded one of the employees as the flamed arrow launcher. Then, we continued to separate everyone into small groups and have each group come up with a made-up country name, flag, and a little bit of background.
We had seven teams that competed in synced and a-synced Olympic games throughout the 3-month event. During that period, we had games such as Olympic Trivia, Olympics-themed Scrabble, creating Wiki pages for your country, and a mini hackathon!
We had a leaderboard and special opportunities to earn your “country” more points. For the duration of the Olympics, we would go on video calls with our country’s flag as a background.
The Grand Finale event took place in our offsite in Prague, where the teams competed for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. We printed out the countries’ flags and had a podium event at the end of it.”
– Tamar Amoza, Novu
4. Time Machine to Ancient Greece
“Each month, our HR team dons tin helmets and takes a spin in our Hot Tub Time Machine. In August, our Wellness Team found themselves in Ancient Greece.
Our monthly wellness package, themed around Ancient Greece, included a variety of interactive and inclusive activities designed for 250+ employees and the individuals we support, encouraging participation and fostering a sense of community.
Each location earned points toward the Summer Games by completing challenges that accompanied the torch. After completing a challenge, the torch was passed on to the next home.
For example, we challenged employees to create a visual display that showcased the various countries where our employees and the individuals we support were born or identified as their home. This initiative highlighted the rich diversity of our teams, celebrating and honouring the unique backgrounds and stories that make up our community.
The pinnacle of our celebration was our Summer Games event, an in-person gathering where all employees were invited to spend the day participating in friendly competitions themed after Greek gods. Teams competed enthusiastically for bragging rights and prizes, strengthening bonds and promoting teamwork.”
– Angela Murdoch, Parents for Community Living KW Inc.
5. Office Olympics
“We organized an Office Olympics for one of our locations.
Our social area was the venue, it was decorated with flags and with five rings.
There were eight games:
- Paper Tossing in a Trash Bin
- Paper Plane Folding and Flying
- Javelin Throw with Ice-Cream Stick
- Bowling with Empty Shower Gel Bottles
- Ping-Pong Toss in an Egg Container
- Coffee Mug Obstacle Course
- Archery Darts
- Geek Typing Race
Globally we also played Kahoot! Trivia with 20 questions followed by interesting fun facts.”
– Eszter Madar, Trax Retail
6. Virtual Relay
“We started off with a virtual trivia relay. Teams competed in a trivia quiz that featured questions related to the Olympics, famous athletes, and sports history.
Then we designed our own Olympic Flag. Teams had 20 minutes to design a flag that represented their team, including elements that symbolized their team’s spirit and values. After completing their designs, each team presented their flag and explained its significance.
We then had a scavenger hunt where we had to find things in our house such as an award, items that were the color of each Olympic circle, and something that would be used in an Olympic sport.
Since we had no budget our team awards were the winning teams put their medal as their slack status for the week.”
– Samantha Goldworth, Indeed
7. Virtual Olympics
“I organized a virtual olympics for our global university recruiting team as the volunteer lead for our team social committee.
Team members were randomly placed on teams. The week before the Olympics officially started, they submitted team names, songs, and flags.
The actual Olympics took place the week the real Olympics started and was a weeklong extravaganza with activities each day. Teams received points for every question of the day they answered on Slack and also participated in challenges, including a talent show, a trivia contest, and submitting fun facts.
The rest of the global team, including those not on teams, voted for their favorite team brands, fun facts, talents, etc. throughout the week. The top three teams at the end of the week won Uber credits.”
– Kasey Stricklin, Uber
8. Office Olympic Game Stations
“We hosted Office Olympics, with four different game stations. We paired staff from differing departments together to work as a team. They participated in hungry hungry hippos, rock paper scissors duel, three legged race and don’t drop the noodle!
Each station had a prize winner. It gave staff to a chance to collaborate and work with another team member they may not know as well and have fun.”
– Ashley Pester, CHOICES, Inc.
Final Thoughts
Celebrating the Olympics at work is a winning idea for several reasons. The event occurs less frequently than yearly holidays and feel like more of a break from the routine, heightening hype and employee interest. The games also have mass audience appeal. Folks do not have to follow sports or be athletic to appreciate the event, and team members from every country are familiar with the games and can cheer on their favorite competitors or nations. Lastly, the themes like unity, camaraderie, and teamwork fit perfectly into the workplace.
People leaders can take inspiration from the Olympics and motivate teams in turn. While something as simple as themed trivia or turning on the television and watching a competition together can promote bonding, the Olympics are a great time to get creative and go above and beyond to throw an employee event every bit as epic as the games themselves.
Now, take the torch from these trailblazing teams and break new records for employee satisfaction!
Get more tips for your own event by reading our articles on DIY Office Olympics and virtual office Olympics.
*Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.
