It's that time of year again where it is acceptable to shrink wrap a colleague's desk, stuff your boss's desk full of balloons, or rearrange the keys on a coworker’s keyboard.
Unfortunately, if you work in a hybrid or remote workplace you will need to be a little more creative. But, that doesn’t mean you still can’t have a little fun in the workplace—especially on April Fool’s Day.
If you were fortunate to join us on our funny webinar a while back, you know humor is important to a healthy workplace culture. Our guest speaker, and Humor at Work expert, Mike Kerr entertained all of us with his presentation on Leading and Laughing During Turbulent Times. Mike provided a lot of tips on how to ham it up in the workplace, but most of all he reminded us of the importance of laughter during uncertain times.
So if you are looking for virtual April Fool's pranks, or even funny office pranks, consider trying out one of these ideas:
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Change things up on Zoom
Most meetings today occur virtually on video. By leveraging Snapchat filters you can switch up your background to something entertaining and humorous. This is your chance to be a cat, a banana, or a potato. Or if you wanted to really go all in, you could go beyond a static image and change your background to a video of you walking in on yourself, like this guy did. -
Rent a meeting llama
By now, almost everyone has attended a virtual meeting where a dog or cat makes a cameo appearance. But what if you could have a llama attend your next meeting? A nonprofit animal sanctuary called Sweet Farm has made this a reality by allowing organizations to hire a llama in their Zoom meetings.
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Give yourself a new job title
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be CEO for the day, now is your chance to change your job title! You could add your new title to either your intranet, instant messaging platform, or even your email signature. You could even change your title to something super clever, like: Director of Astonishment, Oracle of Inspiration, or Chief Whiner. -
Get clever with your Zoom name
Zoom allows users to put anything in the name display box. Use this opportunity to get creative and change it to something like “Reconnecting…" Your teams will assume you have a weak wifi connection, which might just provide you with a great excuse to exit a meeting early. -
Create a fake company announcement
Fast food giant Burger King went viral in 2018 when they launched a chocolate Whopper. The burger wasn’t real of course, but rather an April Fool’s Day prank. Consider what fake announcements you could announce to your employees or customer base: A new logo? A unique product unveiling? Or an expected announcement about a colleague? -
Screen-share something scandalous
One of the biggest ‘oops’ moments that can occur is when an employee accidentally shares something inappropriate on their screen. Take advantage of this by creating fictitious folders or documents on any screen you share—like ones that say something like “resignation letter” or “Dr. Phil audition.”
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Announce a fake colleague
Why not announce a brand new fictitious coworker? Through your intranet you could create an entire employee profile, complete with skills, hobbies, and even their position in the org chart. Watch and enjoy as colleagues start welcoming the newest member of your team!
View a collection of visually inspiring intranets from companies that like to have a little fun in the workplace.
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One final word of advice, it should go without saying (like the reminders on car commercials that say ‘closed professional circuit’) that any shenanigans you engage in should not involve destroying anyone’s property, or making fun of someone’s ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. In other words, April Fool’s Day should not get you fired.
What are you doing to celebrate April Fool’s Day at your workplace?
Have questions? Get in touch! We're always happy to hear from you.
