Monthly Culture-building Themes

There are thousands of fun theme days you can celebrate in your workplace. From ubiquitous Hawaiian Shirt Days to Third Person Thursdays (where everyone refers to themselves in the 3rd person) to Monochromatic Day (Argus Industries celebrates this one – where everyone dresses only in black and white), the possibilities are limitless.

But why not do a deeper dive and create theme months for your workplace: an entire month dedicated to a certain topic related to your workplace culture, business or customer service you want to focus on. Theme months can be an effective way to foster a continuous improvement mindset and a simple way to create traditions that will strengthen your culture, form better working habits, or simply add a bit of fun to your workplace. Generate a list of potential themes so you can keep them going indefinitely.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Value of the Month. Assign each of your company values to a specific month and challenge everyone to live that value in outrageously loud ways.

Go the Extra Mile Month. Offer a prize at the end of the month to whoever does something that goes the extra mile with their internal or external customer service.

Go the Extra Inch Month. Encourage everyone to generate “extra inch” ideas that will make a consistent difference to your workplace culture or customer service.

Eat Your Greens Healthy Eating Month.

Something to Snore About Month! A month dedicated to encouraging healthy sleeping habits.

Name Tag Month. Have everyone where a “Hello My Name is ____” name tag for an entire month to encourage people to remember and use everyone’s name and engage with each other in a different way (and trust me, based on experience, they will!)

“Yes and…” Month where everyone must always use the phrase, “Yes, and…” instead of  “but” or no” when debating and sharing ideas.

What a GREAT Idea Month where everyone is encouraged to submit as many useful ideas as they possibly can.

Face-to-Face Month where everyone is encouraged to put down their smart phones and communicate in person…you know, like real humans.

Anticipation Month where everyone is encouraged to look for ways they can better anticipate their customers’ needs and questions.

Walk or Bike to Work Month.

Get Moving Month! Hold walk-n-talk meetings and encourage everyone to use the stairs, walk during breaks and lunches, and stretch regularly at their desks.

Colleague Appreciation Month: Encourage everyone to make a more intentional effort to thank one another in sincere, meaningful ways.

Family Matters Month. A month dedicated to celebrating and appreciating employees’ family members.

Community Spirit Month. Look for ideas and opportunities to engage with your local community.

I’ve Got Your Back Month: Encouraging safe workplace habits with a focus on employees looking out for each other.

High Five Month. Yup, an entire month of high-fiving whenever something good happens to remind people to celebrate the small successes.

Gratitude Month: Encourage everyone to keep a gratitude journal for one month where they list the small things at work and in life they are grateful for.

Clear the Clutter Month!

Eco-Habits Month: A concerted all-hands-on-deck approach to reducing waste and saving energy in your office.

Working on Purpose Month: A month dedicated to celebrating the ultimate reason(s) your organization exists.

Laugh For No Reason Month: Encourage people to remember the power of laughing for no reason as a simple but effective way to lower their stress.

Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame Speaker, highly in-demand international keynote speaker, and the creator of the Culture Leadership Online Academy. Michael is also the author of 8 books, including:  The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank;  Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire; and The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace.  www.MikeKerr.com