Office Olympics are not a new idea but working from home during the pandemic pushed the competition and creativity to a new level. When I created these Home Office Olympics I had a some specific goals:
- Any materials needed to be common household items (I wasn’t going to send materials to teammates)
- Competitions could be done independently or as a group during a meeting
- Competitions had to cover a wide range of interests so there was something for everyone
I asked my team to submit ideas for competitions and then I adapted them to fit into one of three categories: Virtual, Physical, and Artistic.
One-pager instructions for all of these competitions are available in a download kit.
How Did It Work?
Over the weeks that the Olympics were taking place, teammates could submit their scores for the competitions. I released half the events for the first week and the rest of the events for a second week.
After completing an event, the result was submitted and after the week was over, the gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded. The artistic competition entries were sent out for voting by the group to determine the winners.
For my team, a person could compete in as many (or as few) events as they wanted! They still got to see the results, vote on winners, and cheer on the team.
Office Olympics Virtual Events – All you need is your computer!
Typing Test
Competitors completed an online typing test and submitted their words per minute and accuracy scores. I chose this typing test because it allowed the user to choose what language they typed in. I have teammates in China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Spain, UK, and the US and I didn’t want to give the native English speakers an advantage.
Spacebar Challenge
Competitors went to this Spacebar Counter website – all it does is count how many times you press the spacebar. They set a timer for 30 seconds and tried to press the spacebar as many times as they could. Then submitted the score!
This challenge was harder than it looked. Also some people found out that if you had two keyboards (e.g., laptop keyboard and a separate keyboard), the website will count both spacebars.
Random Number Generator
Competitors visited a Random Number Generator site and clicked to create three random numbers. They submitted the three numbers they got and the average of them. Highest average won! I also awarded for the highest individual number, just to add more ways to win. This challenge had the highest participation because it was complete luck and easy to do!
Geoguessr
This is a more complex virtual event. The website Geoguessr has been around for quite a few years and many competitors were familiar with it. The site takes you to a random location on the Earth and shows the Google Street View for that location. What makes it cool is you can interact with the map, move down the street, zoom in, etc. When you think you know where you are, make a guess using the world map and your score is determined by how close you are to the real location and how quickly you guessed.
Winners for this event were based on total score from Geoguessr and also the closest single guess. One competitor guessed a location within 50 meters!
Office Olympics Physical Challenges – get moving!
Sticky Note Challenge
Materials: pack of sticky notes (e.g., Post It Notes)
Set a timer for 30 seconds and see how many sticky notes you can stick to your face! It’s simple and hilarious. I recommend completing this event with others in a group meeting. Not only is it very funny to watch but it helps to have some people counting the sticky notes and others watching the timer.
Sock Basketball
Materials: socks, trashcan/pot
Ball up your socks, stand 6 ft away from the trashcan and count how many consecutive baskets you can make. Submit your highest score.
An alternative set of rules could be to determine a starting distance and then for each basket, move back one foot until you miss. Then you would submit the furthest distance you successfully made a basket.
Pencil Catch
Materials: pens or pencils
Start with two pencils balanced on the back of your hand. Flip the pencils into the air and catch them with the same hand. Continue adding pencils until you miss.
Planking
Time how long you can hold a plank position. This is another one that might be more interesting to do as a group – especially if most people aren’t very good at planking.
Paper Airplane Toss
Materials: paper
Competitors create a paper airplane (using any design they want). Then toss the airplane and measure how far it flew. In addition to submitting the distances, I asked competitors to submit a photo of their airplane so the group could see the different designs.
Office Olympics Artistic Challenges – for the creative competitors!
Juggling Office Supplies
Competitors submitted videos attempting to juggle common office supplies – rubber band balls, stress balls, sticky notes, pens, etc. This is a fun competition to learn about some hidden talents on your team (or lack of talent too)!
Olympic Ring Design
Using items around the house, recreate the iconic Olympic Rings. The colors needed to be easily identifiable. It was interesting to see the variety of materials chosen. Teammates were able to vote on the winner.
Webcam Camouflage
This was my favorite competition! The results were so creative… and also I won, which doesn’t hurt.
Competitors turned on their webcam showing their home office space. Then they had to dress to camouflage with their surroundings. The submissions were voted on to determine the winners.
Download Kit
Linked below are downloads for the editable PowerPoint slides with instructions for every competition and also a pdf file of the instructions as-is so you can use them right away!
