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Warmer weather can leave you and your teams itching to get out of the office, a perfect time to schedule a slate of outdoor team building activities. Not only do the activities give everyone a chance to enjoy the summer sunshine, but they can improve communication, build trust, and make work feel like play. Here are five outdoor team building activities for you and your crew to enjoy.

Low-Ropes Course

Unlike a high-ropes course that can leave you dangling up to 50 feet in the air, a low-ropes course sticks much closer to the ground. Low ropes can range anywhere from a seated position on the ground to about 12 feet in the air.

Rope courses task team members with a series of obstacles to overcome, with each challenge tougher than the last. You can book a rope course from companies that specialize in this team-building activity in locations around the U.S. There are even a few companies that will bring low-ropes fun right to your office.

Picnic

An outdoor picnic can double as a team building outing and social event, helping colleagues get to know each other better. Get strategic by arranging a seating plan at picnic tables that mingles people who typically don’t interact.

You can also pepper your picnic with a series of games designed to build trust, enhance communication, or otherwise improve teamwork back at the office.

Outdoor Award Ceremony

Transform your typical award ceremonies into outdoor celebrations by booking a pavilion or simply showing up at a nearby park. Make sure you have plenty of seating room, snacks, and awards on hand.

Keep the focus on teamwork by presenting recognition certificates, trophies, or small gifts to teams of people that worked together to:

• Complete a challenging project
• Reach department goals
• Meet a tight deadline
• Exceed expectations across the board

Scavenger Hunt

Team scavenger hunts automatically get people working together with the goal of being the first group to find the objects on the list. Compile a list of items your teams can find throughout a neighborhood, hiking trail, or other outdoor areas, and then send them out to take photos of the items. Set up the scavenger hunt yourself, or book one through an app like Stray Boots.

Volunteer Activities

Whether your crew volunteers to walk dogs from a local shelter or help build a local Habitat for Humanity house, working together for a good cause can enhance team member bonding. Check in with your area nonprofits and city organizations to see if they need a hand with any outdoor activities. You can also check out VolunteerMatch, which lets you select volunteer opportunities based on type.

Whatever option you choose, outdoor team building activities can give your workers a welcome break from the office while enhancing their camaraderie. Schedule a lineup of outdoor team building activities all summer long to ensure it’s truly a season of celebration. Keep the celebration going all year long with an array of awards and certificates from PaperDirect.

Even though it might not be warm and bright where you are quite yet, it is officially spring! However, while the sun is shining and plants are blooming outside, your drab office space might be stopping you from getting into the spirit of the season.

To help you spring into spring, here’s a list of some of the best plants to keep on your desk to help chase away your winter blues. And don’t worry, if your office doesn’t allow plants, we have a few recommendations for you, too!

Spider Plant

The spider planet is not nearly as scary as it sounds! It’s a hardy little plant that requires very little maintenance. If your office is more of a cubicle than a traditional office, a spider plant might be perfect for your space, because it can grow in partial sun and shade. As a bonus, it’s proven to work as an air detoxifier!

Golden Pothos

NASA noted the golden pothos is another great option to improve air quality – it removes over 70% of air pollutants. It’s also a perfect plant for low-light situations, so if you haven’t made your way to a corner office yet, this plant will do just fine without direct sunlight.

English Ivy

English Ivy is one of the best plants for the office if you’re looking to make your workspace an Instagrammable paradise. English Ivy is a climbing plant that will look oh-so-luxurious draped along your desk or a shelf nearby, and it’s ideal for workspaces with poor circulation.

Snake Plant

A snake plant is perfect if you want a little greenery to liven up your space but don’t want to have deal with a high-maintenance plant. Snake plants can be neglected for weeks, and they’ll still keep the air around you clean. Talk about employee of the month!

Succulents

If you manage to kill every plant you touch, try a succulent! They come in dozens of different varieties and colors and shapes, and as long as you can provide them with adequate sunlight every once in a while, you can forget to water these desert plants for a good long while.

Lemon Balm

Lemon balm plants don’t just add some color to your drab workspace – they also have a comforting lemon scent that is shown in studies to provide a significant mood enhancement. And let’s be honest – we could all use a little pick-me-up during a long work day!

Floral Stationery

If even a low-maintenance plant seems like it’s a little too much work, there are still ways to brighten your office space for spring! Sometimes, the best plants for sprucing up your desk are the kind that are printed on paper in the form of floral stationery. All the color and brightness of a plant with none of the upkeep – that’s what we’d call a win-win!

To find eye-catching floral stationery and other products to help brighten your workspace as we head into spring, browse the options at PaperDirect today!

Your workspace is a direct reflection of you. It is vibrant, exciting, and welcoming? Or, is your space bland and blah?

If you find yourself snapping tons of selfies at work for Instagram, pencil in a mini cubicle makeover using our cool office ideas so you can show the world more about you. After all, we could all use a little office refresh!

Uncommon Live Plants

If there’s tons of light or a windowsill in your office, add a living, breathing pet plant. Go for something that could work as a conversation starter, like a bold blue orchid, twisty bamboo, or a bug-eating Venus fly trap. Give that greenery a catchy name and introduce him on Instagram as your new office mate.

Expressive Cozy Pillows

Style your office chair, couch, or relaxation area with some emoji-face pillows. Each time you give a social media update, you can share your current mood by strategically placing the corresponding pillow in the frame. Clever and quirky!

Stress-Relieving Gadgets

From fidget spinners to squishy stress balls, it’s nice to have something for our fingers to fiddle with during a tense conference call. Earn bonus points for getting the marketing team to print your business logo on these gadgets so your company gets a free shout out each time your desk or office lands on Instagram.

Wacky Wall Art

Gone are the days of displaying mass-produced framed pictures. Skip the abstract landscapes and hang up something that brings you joy. Enlarge a family picture, show off your sketching skills, hang a quilt, display your own painting masterpiece, or frame that signed baseball jersey.

Creative Computer Accessories

Whether you channel your love of the 90s and cover your laptop with stickers, or feature a funny pet photo on your desktop, these details add extra interest to your Instagram updates. Update your background and accessories based on your mood to keep things interesting!

Awards and Accolades

Are you a little league Coach of the Year? Were you named the office Social Media Queen? Show off those award certificates with honor and pride on your desk or walls. They highlight your personality and will make you smile each time you see them, even in the background of your social posts.

Looking for more cool office ideas? Visit the PaperDirect blog to make your workplace rock! We can help you with everything from planning office parties and events to celebrating the accomplishments of your loyal employees.

Is the typical workday at your office filled with laughter, chatter, and lots of work completed with loads of enthusiasm? If your answer is no, you may want to work on boosting employee engagement. Here are eight fun and easy ways to improve employee engagement and make your staff excited to come into work every day.

In-Office Events

In-office events can be something as simple as a weekly staff lunch hour, or as elaborate as monthly catered event for birthdays or milestones met during the month. Contests are another fun way to bring people together and improve employee engagement, with prizes offered for the biggest sales, most productive workweek, or other achievements.

In-Office Awards

In-office awards can include work-related endeavors, or you can also go outside the box with awards for fitness achievements, creativity, or even reaching humorous goals. Perhaps a monthly award for staying calmest in the midst of chaos can be on the list. Awards can consist of certificates, plaques, trophies, and motivational pins and gifts.

Out-of-Office Perks

Take employees out to the ballgame, a play, a picnic in the park, or weekly happy hour. Planning social time outside of work can improve employee engagement inside the office. Out-of-the-office events take away the confines of the office and let employees get to know each other on a more personal level.

Team Building Activities

Team building activities can range from office trivia contests to mini-car races, with annual retreats or off-site scavenger hunts as additional options. The most important aspect of team building activities is not necessarily what you do, but that the team is doing it together to improve employee engagement and strengthen bonds.

Setting Goals

Whether you set daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly targets, setting goals is another way to fortify teamwork and engagement. Bonds can’t help but form when people work together for a common cause that benefits the bigger picture. Strengthen the bonds even further by celebrating goal achievements with one of the aforementioned in-office events or out-of-office perks.

Mentoring

Pairing up employees for training and mentoring opportunities can also work to improve engagement. It may not only be the senior staff members who can offer something worth learning. Have two employees spend two weeks with each other, giving each person a week to be the mentor. Longtime employees can share their experience, while newer employees can bring knowledge, insight, and new perspectives to the table.

Volunteering

You already heard how working toward a common cause can improve engagement, and that cause can include volunteer opportunities outside the office. Consider donating time to an organization or activity that betters your community while contributing to your mission. Adjust work schedules to accommodate those interested in participating.

Listening

Giving your employees a voice, and then letting them know their voices are heard, is another strategy that can improve employee engagement. Keeping an open avenue of communication via email and in-person meetings is one way to do it. Conducting monthly surveys, establishing a suggestion box, and holding a weekly sound-off are others.

Feel free to mix and match any of the ideas to best suit your company’s personality and culture. Also feel free to ask employees for ideas, giving them yet another way to contribute to and become more engaged in the workplace. When handing out office awards or prizes, stop by PaperDirect for all your motivational award needs!

Professional development workshops complete with trust falls and scavenger hunts are so 1999. If you want your team to come together without rolling their eyes at your outdated team building ideas, plan activities that are both engaging and exciting. We’re here to help you think outside the box.

1. Go zip lining.

It’s easy to address trust and fear when you’re about to sail over the tree line with your boss in tow. But, once you’re both safe on the platform on the other side, you can celebrate yet another challenge tackled together!

2. Attend karaoke night.

Have the team gather at the local pizza place for beer and Bono on karaoke night. There will be ample words of encouragement spoken to the employees who risk grabbing the mike. The benefit: Everyone practices being supportive.

3. Build something together.

Volunteer as a company to help with a local Habitat for Humanity build or a community playground rehab project. When creating teams to tackle various tasks, mix it up so the staff gets to meet people outside their usual circles.

4. Host an 80’s prom.

Do a throwback event to encourage mingling among staff and their significant others. The nostalgic clothing is a perfect ice-breaker, giving everyone at the party have a common ground.

5. Do a charity walk.

Take a Friday morning off as a team and support the community. Employees can bond through race prep walks leading up to the event, making homemade tie-dye team T-shirts at the office and volunteering to help the race organizers set up for the festivities.

6. Schedule lunch buddies.

Put everyone’s name in a hat and draw four names each Friday. These lucky winners get an employer-paid offsite lunch and a chance to learn more about one another away from the office setting.

7. Plan a Taco Tuesday.

One Tuesday each month, encourage everyone to stay in for lunch and share their favorite Mexican recipes potluck style. Employees can bond over homemade guacamole and enchilada casserole.

Stock up on motivational gifts and certificates to award the staff as they celebrate their achievements. Celebrate the Goofiest Dressed Team from the charity walk and the Almost a Rock Star singer from karaoke night! PaperDirect can ship motivational products directly to your office.

After a flurry of winter parties and new year’s toasts, it’s time to get back to work. Feeling bummed? You’re not alone. What happened to the four-day weekends, pumpkin-spice lattes and the plethora of leftover baked goods?

As January gets rolling, it’s not uncommon to notice an emotional withdrawal from all that good cheer. With your waistband feeling tighter, and your wallet lighter, create a battle plan to survive the saddest day of the year in the office.

It’s called Blue Monday. (And we’re not talking about the peppy cover song.) It’s the third Monday of January, which falls on January 16, 2017 this time around. To keep the gloomy Gus syndrome to a minimum at the office, plan to add a few of these happiness-inducing ideas to the workday.

Declare it slippers day

No flats, dress shoes, heels or sneakers are allowed in the office. At the end of the day, give out award certificates to the weirdest, funniest, fluffiest and cutest footwear.

Schedule a potluck lunch

Ask everyone to whip up their favorite recipe from the holiday season and relive it all just one more time. You can never have too much spiced cider, right?

Take a company field trip

If you have a small workforce, rent a big van and head off site for a rejuvenating afternoon of team building. Work in groups to complete a scavenger hunt at a zoo or the mall.

Do a lunch-break show and tell

Remember how cool it was to bring a favorite object from home to show off to your classmates in elementary school? Revive that. Everyone is dying to see your collection of Garbage Pail Kids cards from the 90s.

Set up a margarita bar

In the afternoon, convert the meeting room into a self-serve sip and snack station. Bowls of tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and several flavors of frosty margaritas are on the menu.

Tell jokes all day

Do you have an office intercom system? Grab a cheesy children’s joke book and every hour tell a wacky knock knock or Q&A joke. Your staff can’t help but laugh — or sigh — but at least they aren’t sad.

Make Monday meetings goofy

Do you spend a lot of time in the boardroom on Mondays? Bring in a collection of comical hats (sombreros, derby hats, or dunce cones) and require all speakers to wear hats. No talking unless you have a hat on!

Dress in mismatched clothes

Let your staff put together the most outrageous clothing combos for the work day. Sure, a striped polo shirt goes with plaid golf pants and hiking boots. Don’t forget to get some office selfies for social media!

Have lunch catered to the office

Is there a new little eatery down the road everyone’s been dying to try? Surprise the staff with takeout from the restaurant — including dessert!

Host a raffle fundraiser

Put together an amazing gift basket filled with office snacks, bottles of adult beverages, concert tickets, and restaurant gift cards. Sell raffle tickets for $5 each, with the proceeds going to a favorite local charity. Draw the winner during the 2pm afternoon slump to liven up the office.

Ready to make Blue Monday the best? Jam to that song and get planning. Paper Direct has a collection of clever certificates you can personalize for your creative contest-winning employees. Shop online today!

Whether your company is having a totally alcohol-free party, or simply wants to offer an alternative to alcohol, holiday mocktails can be a delicious route to take. Holiday mocktails provide the festive flair and zippy taste of your typical holiday cocktail concoctions – just without the alcohol. And believe us, your mocktail options can go far beyond the kiddie cocktail containing plain ole ginger ale and grenadine.

Cranberry-Apple Cider Punch

Enjoy holiday flavors infused with a bubbly chill when you whip up a batch of cranberry-apple cider punch. It’s easy to whip up massive quantities of the stuff, with straightforward ingredients that include apple cider, ginger ale, orange juice concentrate, and cranberry juice. Garnish with cherries, applies, slices, orange slices, or frozen cranberries, which you can mix right into the giant punch bowl.

Get the recipe at BettyCrocker.com.

Wine-Free Sangria

No workmates will be whining about an after-party headache if they stick with this wine-free sangria. Featuring all of the fruity fun of traditional sangria, this refreshing tea drink can be presented in big, fat pitchers or a punch bowl perfect for the larger crowds. Ingredients include red grape juice, tea, orange soda, frozen raspberries, and sliced lemon and lime.

See the full recipe at MyRecipes.com.

Pleasing Pear Tree

Even without the partridge or 12 drummers drumming, the pear tree is sure to be a holiday mocktail hit. Its splashy success relies on pear juice mingled with lemon-lime juice and garnished with fresh mint leaves or other herbs. Texture. Taste. The absence of a dozen annoying drums. What more could you want for holiday fun?

Pucker up with the recipe at MyRecipes.com.

Grinch Punch

Image courtesy of Simplistically Living

The name of this mocktail alone makes it a holiday favorite, especially for work parties where you may have your fair share of Grinches on staff. We’re kidding about the Grinches. But we’re not kidding about this delightful drink serving up quite a punch of taste, thanks to a base of Sprite mixed with lemon-lime Kool-Aid, pineapple juice, and lemonade concentrate. Get extra Grinch points for serving up this bright green drink in a glass trimmed with red sanding sugar.

Check out the recipe at SimplisticallyLiving.com.

Ravishing Raspberry ‘Champagne’

Image courtesy of Poofy Cheeks

This bubbly, fun raspberry mocktail gives you all the fizzy pizzazz of champagne – without the alcohol, shooting corks, or nasty hangover. The bubbly comes from sparkling white grape juice. The fun comes from being served up in flutes. And the raspberry comes from frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate and actual frozen fruit you place in the flutes to add flavor and flair to the experience.

Give it a go with the recipe at PoofyCheeks.com.

Whether your holiday office party serves up only a few or nothing other than alcohol-free holiday mocktails, these recipes will ensure you’re imbibing in the greatest holiday tastes. And we here at PaperDirect hope your holiday party is a supremely tasty one indeed!

She’s confident. She’s strong. And she deserves a gift that’s much more impressive than a $5, “I’m the Boss” coffee mug. While you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on your lady boss, you do have to show her that her yearlong efforts are not only noticed but totally appreciated. You can do exactly that with these spectacular Christmas gift ideas for your boss.

Top-of-the-World Trophies

Go for a from-the-heart personal gift with a customized trophy or plaque hailing your lady boss’s achievements and power. Go with no-nonsense sayings that are as straightforward as she is, or add a little humor into the mix.Ideas can include:

• Best Lady Boss. Make that BEST BOSS, period.
• Best Boss this Side of Venus
• Top Role Model: Little girls grow up wanting to be you.
• No. 1 Lady Boss: Kicking butt and taking names.

Power Oils

Essential oils have the power to beat stress, boost performance and otherwise enhance a day at the office. And if that doesn’t impress your lady boss, you can always mention they’ve become a $1.2 billion business. Essential oil Christmas gift ideas for your boss include an office essential oil diffuser and select oils geared toward achieving great things. Power oil examples include:

• Cinnamon for increasing focus and concentration
• Orange for decreasing anxiety and perking up mood
• Peppermint for stress relief, fatigue reduction
• Rosemary for elevating brainpower and energy
• Sage for boosting memory and attention

Pinch Me Stress Relief

Desktop punching bags are so passé when it comes to relieving stress. You can give your lady boss a much more sophisticated method of working out workday angst and annoyances with Pinch Me scent-infused therapy dough.

Billed as a “portable mood-shifter” the pliable dough invites your boss lady to indulge in the texture, color, and aroma to help her refocus. OK, perhaps pinch-able dough is not all that sophisticated. But it sure can be fun.

Luxury Throw

Even if they’ll never dare let you know it, lady bosses can like to get warm and cozy, too. Give her that option with a luxury throw she can use at home or leave at the office to help her get through those all-nighters. Luxury throw fabric options range from alpaca to cashmere bamboo, from silver foxtail to ribbed mink faux fur.

Super-Stoked Spa Basket

Take the luxury route a bit further with Christmas gift ideas for your boss that’ll give her the pampering she deserves. Go for a super-stoked spa basket packed with bubble bath, scented candles, salt and sugar scrubs, peppermint foot rubs and all other sorts of goodies that make her feel sensational from her head to her toes.

Gift Certificates

No, we’re not talking about a $25 gift card to a random department store. Christmas gifts for your boss in the gift certificate category can instead include any number of events or adventures. Rock climbing, whitewater rafting, kickboxing classes, yoga studio passes are all fair game. Review your lady boss’s favorite activities to bucket list entries, then gift her with a way to experience them.

No matter if you gift your lady boss with a spa basket or a top-of-the-world trophy, one thing is for sure. Any of these Christmas gift ideas for your boss will outshine and out-impress far greater than any $5 coffee mug.

Ah, Mad-Libs- that tried and true comedy elixir! For more than fifty years they’ve been the formula for turning out effortless mirth. And as you let your hair and mistletoe down around the office, their childish charms are the perfect garnish for your budding Christmas cheer.

But here at Paper Direct, we like to compound the shenanigans whenever possible. That’s why we propose an office contest. Send around this holiday Lib with the first portion of that new Christmas classic, Run D.M.C.’s Christmas in Hollis. The winner gets the honor of busting their fresh lyrics to the delight of all at your company’s Christmas party. A little tangible recognition for your poet laureate wouldn’t go amiss either- come peruse our wares for some fresh ideas.

Have fun kids, and Merry Christmas to all of you!

Download our Mad-Lib Template Now

It was December 24th on [street name] after dark

When I seen a man chilling with his [animal] at the park

I [past tense verb] them very slowly with my heart full of fear

Looked at his [repeat animal from line 2] , oh my [cartoon character name], a[n] [adjective] reindeer

But then I was [present tense verb] because the man had a beard

And a bag full of [noun], 12 o’clock had neared

So I turned my head a second and the man was gone

But he must of [past tense verb] his wallet smack dab on the lawn

I picked the wallet up and then I took a pause

Took out the license and it cold said Santa Claus

A million dollars in it, a cold hundreds of G’s

Enough to buy a [noun], matching [noun] with ease

But I’d never steal from Santa, ’cause that ain’t right

So I was going home to mail it back to him that night

But when I got home I [past tense verb], ’cause under the tree

Was a letter from Santa and the dough is for me!