We’ve all participated in a little office betting, whether it’s March Madness or wagering on who will win Best Picture (which nobody ever guesses correctly because who on earth saw THAT movie?)
Office pools are a great way to get to know your coworkers and their interests. They are a fun, light-hearted way to pass the time at the office. Using tools like PennyProfit helps organize bets and ensure that nobody feels they have to contribute lump sums because they can contribute over time as the season or year goes on. Keep reading for some unique ideas for friendly office competition!
Fantasy leagues
I’m not certain, but I think it may be a legal requirement that every office in America hosts a March Madness tournament. If not, it’s definitely illegal to not have fantasy football going, right? Either way, in the old days Greg would walk around the office with an envelope collecting everyone’s $10 buy-in. Well, not anymore. Thanks to PennyProfit, Greg creates two jars : a March Madness Jar and a Fantasy Football Jar. Then he invites everyone in the office to contribute if they want to play. For those that want to just send their $10 over instantly, they just transfer the money directly from their bank. For others, they may just set a split percentage, say 30% of their round-ups and cap their contribution at $10 so they will be all paid up by the time the finals roll around. This makes it nice and simple for Greg to begrudgingly send Rachel from accounting her winnings at the end of the season. Rachel told everybody that she selected her teams based off who had the cutest mascot and/or quarterback, but in reality she’s a major fan and doesn’t want to let everybody know her strategic secrets.
Bump, set, hike!
Maybe your office is not super sporty. Maybe you guys prefer something a little more classy like The Finer Things Club where you get together weekly and read literature and enjoy tiny cucumber sandwiches and mocktails (Remember, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, but not in your office at noon unfortunately). Well, cucumber sandwiches and fake booze costs money and that has to come from somewhere. Have one person open a Finer Things Jar and everyone in the club contributes. If you’d like to just send your $5 weekly over in a lump sum and get it taken care of instantly, go ahead and do a direct bank transfer. If you’d rather just have 20% of your round-ups consistently going there so you can just set and forget and be good to go weekly that is an option as well. Then when Wednesday afternoon rolls around you guys will always have the funds to enjoy the finer side of life with no hassle, cash, or confusion required.
Lotto Tickets
The most fun office I ever worked in had a weekly lottery tournament. We all pitched in $1 a week and one lady went and bought lottery tickets. We figured if we won a million dollars that would be pretty great split 8 ways. This is such a fun jar idea! It’s an easy one to set up and totally forget about too. Set 5% of your spare change to the lottery Jar and you guys will totally have enough for a few scratch offs every week. Plus, you will have the greatest user story for us ever when you become millionaires so it’s really a win-win on all sides!
Bet On Babies
A way to make an office baby a little more exciting is to bet on it! Have everyone contribute $15 towards a gift for mom and dad. Meanwhile, take a poll guessing things like date of birth, weight, gender, etc. Whoever is closest to the real answers gets to take $10 of the contributions to treat themselves to a coffee, donut, lunch, whatever they please. Then, take the remaining round-ups and get a nice present for the parents. Pro-tip, if you’re going with clothes then get 6-9 or 9-12 month clothing because everyone remembers to gift tiny infant clothes but those babies grow pretty stinkin’ quick!
Fantasy Island League
Maybe your office is a little more into reality tv than they are into sports. Take bets on shows like The Bachelor or Project Runway. Who will last to the end of the season? Who will cry first? Who will be the mean one? Etc. Whatever you guys are interested in. Contribute via lump sum or round-ups to a Jar and at the end of the season, whoever guessed right gets to keep the money.
Whatever your office enjoys, there are always fun ways to have healthy competition in the work-place! Let us know what pools and jars you create!
