10 Feb

Creating Your Own Olympics In The Office

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 10.02.14 by John Meloche

business competitionWell the Winter Olympic Games are off to flying start in Sochi, Russia. And, we’re happy that Team Canada is among the nations who are flying the highest! As of this writing, Canada is currently in a four-way tie for most medals with four. Norway is leading the pack with seven so far. Only the fourth day into the Olympics, there are many more medals left to be won.

And there’s just something about competing for your country that makes winning all the more special, isn’t it? Even if you’re not an Olympic athlete, just being a Canadian has got to feel good right about now. At Synergy Marketing, we take great pride in cheering for our Canadian athletes. And that is especially true when the hockey starts! Our Canadian women have already bested Switzerland with a 5-0 victory in their first game.

And the men are off to the races later this week! So how do you fit all of this excitement into your day when you have to head back to work today and get back to the job? As a business owner, it’s always incumbent upon you to stay focused so that you can best encourage your staff to meet their goals. Well, here’s an idea. Maybe you should incorporate the Olympics into office!

Friendly competition never hurt anybody. Not that much anyway. And think about it, wouldn’t it be fun to spark a little bit of an Olympic flame at your place of business in an effort to drive up productivity? We’ve found, here at Synergy Marketing, that when we create and provide incentives based on performance, it really helps to turn the energy up. Who doesn’t love the feeling of winning?

Perhaps, you can provide that sense of energy by starting your week off by creating new teams within the work place. Offer weekly incentives – in place of medals – to help foster the friendly competition in the office. The plan, as we’ve mentioned, is to get everyone on their toes to increase how productive they all are. But, just as importantly, it will help to create a more enjoyable work atmosphere.

The thing to remember is that you want for your team members to enjoy themselves while they work. Creating competition can be tricky. You obviously don’t want to create any fights. On TheHindu.com, Payal Chanania writes that intense competition and the thought of winning at all costs “is destructive and ultimately takes its toll on morale, productivity and employee health too.”

However, he notes that a “lack of competition also makes people complacent and lackadaisical, leading to mediocre performance.” Chanania points towards a BusinessWeek study that found that two thirds of middle managers who were surveyed believe that having a competitive nature is essential to getting ahead. Those who lack a competitive spirit, on the other hand, generally don’t achieve great success.

In tomorrow’s blog, we’ll take a look at a few methods that you can employ in your office in an effort to drum up some friendly competition. There’s no better time than now considering that the Winter Olympics are in full swing. Make it a fun time in the office for your team members. After all, they’ll be missing the Games while they’re at work. You might as well allow them to play some of their own while on the job!

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