(In-Person & Virtual Ideas)
Do you and your team need a laugh, a smile, and a little bit of joy right now?
Sometimes we forget that when we’re most stressed out—whether it’s with what’s going on at work, in our personal lives, or in the world around us—one of the best things we can do is simply make time for a little fun. Not to ignore what’s happening, but to help us reconnect, laugh, and be reminded of the humanity of the people around us. (I once facilitated a group of UN leaders who had spent the previous hour debating with one another. During a break, they ended up playing tag. Twenty minutes later, people started opening up and actually listening to one another.)
With the Winter Olympics only a couple of weeks away, it’s the perfect excuse to have a little fun with your team!
In this video and blog post, I outline everything you need to run either an in-person or virtual Office Winter Olympics with your team, department, or organization, including:
Why Office Olympics Work
The purpose of Office Olympics is simple: to bring a little play, laughter, and fun into the workday. If you remember the famous episode of the U.S. show The Office (Season 2, Episode 3), it starts with a scented candle and turns into the Dunder Mifflin Olympiads—jumping over stacks of paper, shooting balls of paper into a wastebasket, and walking around with boxes of paper on their feet.
Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just simple games and a little fun!
First: Decide on the Basic Structure
Before jumping into the activities, make a few quick decisions about how you want to run your Olympics.
Will this be a one-off event or an ongoing competition?
Option 1: One-Hour Event
- Opening ceremony
- 3–4 activities
- Closing medal ceremony
Option 2: Ongoing Competition (1–2 weeks)
- Short activities spread across multiple days
- Scores add up over time
- Final medal ceremony at the end
Sample Multi-Day Agenda
Day 1: Opening Ceremony + 2 activities (30 minutes)
Day 2: 2–3 activities (30 minutes)
Day 3: 2–3 activities (30 minutes)
Day 4: 2–3 activities (30 minutes)
Day 5: Final Games + Medals + Closing Ceremony (30–45 minutes)
If you’re working with a large group, break people into teams. Keep it simple—using the colors of the Olympic rings works great (Blue Team, Red Team, Green Team, etc.). If it’s a smaller group, individual competition works just fine.
In-Person Winter Olympics Activities
Here are a few easy, low-prep activities you can run right in the office:
Sock Speed Skating
Have everyone bring their slipperiest socks. Shoes come off. People race around a designated “rink” in the office. Simple. Silly. Effective.
Trash Can Curling
Use a trash can or old pot lids from Goodwill. Draw a target on the floor and have people slide their “stones” toward the center. Bonus points if you add brooms and dramatic sweeping.
Chair Bobsledding (or Slalom)
Set up cones in the office. One person sits in a chair while teammates push them through the course. Helmets optional but highly encouraged for laughs.
No-Skate Figure Skating
Pick 30 seconds of music. Participants perform their best “routine” using socks. Judges hold up scores. Senior leaders make surprisingly great judges.
Office Hockey
Use brooms as sticks and painter’s tape (or a travel mug lid) as the puck. Set goals with cones or doorways and let people play.
Rubber Band Biathlon
Inspired by the Olympic biathlon, have people keep on slippery socks and move around an office obstacle course, stopping to shoot down targets using elastic bands or hair ties. Want it simpler? Skip the skating and place targets in several locations around the office. Have people run to each spot and see how many targets they can knock down.
Ice Cube Curling
Take a whiteboard and draw a circle on one side. Give each team an ice cube—bonus points if you dye them with food coloring (Green Team, Red Team, Blue Team). Have people slide their ice cube so it lands as close to the circle as possible. Whoever ends closest earns one point.
Virtual Winter Olympics Activities
Running this remotely? No problem.
Zoom Bobsledding
Put people into teams and send them into breakout rooms with the instruction to create their best bobsledding routine. If they’re joining from home, they can grab props to use and practice their routine. Bring everyone back into the main room and have all cameras turned off except for the performing team as they deliver a 30-second bobsledding routine.
Speed Typing
Run this in two ways. First, read a fast list of Winter Olympic terms and have people type as many as they can remember into the chat. Award three points for all words, two points for eight or more, and one point for fewer than eight.
Example words: bobsled, biathlon, skeleton, telemark, slopestyle, moguls, Nordic combined, aerials, snowboard cross, speed skating
Or, give everyone 30 seconds to type as many Winter Olympic terms as possible into the chat (no AI). One point goes to the person or team with the most correct words.
Virtual Biathlon
There are two ways to run this. First, have people create a target at home and try to knock it down on camera using an elastic band.
Or, have everyone grab a die from a board game or use a dice-rolling app. Each round, ask people to pick a number from one to six and enter it in the chat. Roll the die and show it on screen—anyone who guessed correctly earns one point. After five to ten rolls, the person with the most points wins.
Ice Cube Challenge
Who can hold an ice cube in their mouth the longest? (Yes, really.) Or try a “melt the ice cube” challenge instead.
Winter Olympics Trivia
Use AI or a quick search to pull 10 trivia questions. Fast, easy, and always competitive. Here are some to get you going:
Questions
- What year were the first Winter Olympics held?
- Which country hosted the first Winter Games?
- Which sport debuted in 1924 and has appeared ever since?
- Who was the first woman to win a Winter Olympic gold medal?
- Which event was once only a demonstration sport: curling or skeleton?
- Which country won the first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal?
- Which country dominated the first Winter Olympics medal table?
- When was snowboarding first included in the Olympics?
- Which sport was removed after 1948 and later reinstated?
- What was the original name of the Winter Olympics?
Answers
- 1924
- France
- Speed skating
- Sonja Henie (figure skating; Norway)
- Skeleton
- United States (speed skating)
- Norway
- 1998
- Skeleton
- International Winter Sports Week
Opening & Closing Ceremonies Matter
Don’t skip these; they’re what tie everything together.
Opening Ceremony
- Pick an energetic MC
- Announce teams and events
- Share the schedule
- Set expectations (this is about fun, not perfection)
Closing Ceremony
- Announce bronze, silver, and gold
- Use simple podiums (paper stacks work)
- Celebrate loudly
If you’re virtual, give winning teams a custom Zoom background to use for the rest of the week.
The Point Isn’t the Games
Here’s the thing.
This isn’t about flawless execution, elaborate props, or perfect timing.
It’s about creating space for people to laugh together, to play together, and to experience something outside of their normal work routines. That’s what builds connection. That’s what creates trust. And that’s what helps teams work better together afterward.
Before You Go
If you try an Office Winter Olympics, I’d love to hear how it goes. Send me a photo or share what worked for your team.
And if you’re looking for more practical, human ways to build connection, recognition, and engagement at work, you can subscribe to The Nudge by scrolling down below, or reach out to me directly here.
As always, thank you for being the kind of leader who cares enough to create moments that matter.
