Sales Floor Ideas to inject Fun into Department Routines

I wouldn't have a contest where a winner gets something special and no one else gets anything. No matter what you dream up some DBO is going to have an advantage. If you want to have a contest, make it so everyone can win something. Like say for every 3 mispicks TMs catch and fix, you'll requisition them a drink from the checklane fridges. Everyone has freight and mispicks.
 
Meh. I dislike most contests and "games" played at work. I have very little chance of winning (Most Red Cards! Refer a tm to work here for the holidays!)

My TL spends the day pushing freight in areas where there is a call out or a high amount of product.

I agree with working along side your DBOs. Even the top performers.

I do like getting snacks requistioned as a reward- free drinks, 12 pk ice cream pops to share.
 
I vote NO on contests - more losers than winners. Leads to the opposite of what you’re looking to do - Bad for morale.
some people are brutally competitive - why pit your tm against each other ?
 
If you're just here to tear down ideas and not contribute anything constructive to the conversation, please move along.

I'm sorry for a lot of you. You all sound miserable at work and have little interest inserting fun into it. Your belittling comments aren't inspiring or interesting to read. If you don't have an idea, I don't need the unwarranted feedback.
 
No contests just stuff in the break room. All day. In the old days. With our terrific original team. Entenmanns donuts were always a big hit. Fire up that coffee pot with some nice Colombian, light cream or 1/2 & 1/2 and have at it. When we ran out she'd go out to the market area and grab an arm full. Missed those days and her.
 
PogDog said:
A DBO in my department asked me to make work more fun. I said I'd see what I could do.

Curious if any leads out there have ideas to make any of the routines, especially pulling 1-4-1s or pushing freight, fun and productive.

This TM is competitive, but not all of my DBOs are. So I'm open to all suggestions that could be used in the department group or individually.
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Pogdog - making work tolerable! Pogdog for President! Wooooo!

I don't have any ideas but love the fact that you are taking your DBO's suggestion to heart. I applaud you.
 
Captain Orca said:
How about injecting some hours into our schedules, how about injecting some $$ into our paychecks? Most employees are more than willing to work the hours. Making it tolerable is fairly easy, screw the fun part. Putting on a phony "fun" face is teflon shit so stop fucking with the good folks hours.
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Who do you think I am, Brian Cornell?

I'm not putting on a phony "fun" face. and this job is already tolerable. I'm just looking to make it more than just tolerable.

I'm seriously confused by why there are so many aggressive responses to this topic. 😕
 
idk if this is fun or not, but when a team member is having a hard day i’ll surprise them with their favorite starbucks drink. i have most of my team’s order memorized and i make them myself (barista skills!). leave an encouraging note on the cup.

i like to chat with my team during downtime or while i’m on the floor working freight with a business owner. just pleasant conversation to make the uboat go faster.
 
REDcardJJ said:
idk if this is fun or not, but when a team member is having a hard day i’ll surprise them with their favorite starbucks drink. i have most of my team’s order memorized and i make them myself (barista skills!). leave an encouraging note on the cup.

i like to chat with my team during downtime or while i’m on the floor working freight with a business owner. just pleasant conversation to make the uboat go faster.
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I do that for my transition team when we have ridiculous sets and deadlines. I could do something similar and get my DBOs a Starbucks GC. Sometimes my ETL/SD lets me requisition, but most of the time I have to pay outta pocket. I don't mind, knowing my team will work with more purpose and caffeine drive.
 
@PogDog I also applaud your efforts to take your DBO's suggestion and try to come up with some ideas to make work fun.

That being said, I view work in a different light, and I agree with @Captain Orca. I enjoy my job, the physical aspects of it and the tasks I am assigned to perform. The stress I feel only comes from being concerned that I won't accomplish what I set out to do in a timely manner and/or to the best of my ability, mostly due to time constraints. I usually manage to get it done and get it done right, but it's a hustle.

And there is one other issue that stresses me out: other TMs goofing around and having fun when they should be working. Not much tenses me up more at work than when I hear two or three of my fellow TMs whooping it up in another department (because of course they are clustering) and having a grand old time when they should all disperse to their assigned areas and get some freaking work done. Do I hate fun? Am I jealous? Do I have personal issues with these TMs? No, no, and no: 1. I love fun, who doesn't? 2. If I wanted to go over there and whoop it up with them, I could, because 3. I get along great with my fellow TMs. My issue is that we are at WORK, and there is a lot to do, and our Style department could be amazing if only people would focus and stop treating their job like social hour.

I guess I just have a different mindset.
 
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I didn't mind the work either, the exercise was awesome. Somewhat gratifying in a very simple way. Bearing in mind, I'm of the Woodstock era and inexplicably I could run circles around most of the young kids 1/3 my age. Everyone likes to fuck off occasionally, don't kid yourself but when undone work comes back to bite you on the ass and when Miss Tootsie Roll gets a gnat in her shorts and starts in on YOU, it's YOU who gets the squeezed balls, not the assholes who should have been helping, who by the way have left for the day.
 
Black Sheep 214 said:
Kudos to you for wanting to bring fun into the workplace for your team, building morale is one of the marks of a good leader. The way we made work more enjoyable for our team was to provide food for them, and give them time to enjoy it together at our huddles, which were more often opportunities to build camaraderie than to pass on information. There were a lot of young people on our team, and once they got to know each other well they made their own fun kidding around with each other. This was before Modernization, I don’t know if it would work under the stress of the current system, but the occasional doughnut can make a miserable experience somewhat more bearable, even if it doesn’t rise to the level of fun. Good luck to you and your team!
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I once was helping a store and volunteered to work in Market. It was a closing shift and there was only 1 tm for Market. I was asked a few minutes later to work with the same tm. I was told that they couldn't understand why he couldn't get his work done. I observed him for a while and realized that he wasn't having any fun. His workload was big for him and I work fast so I get a lot more done than he did (they were comparing the amount of work that I did to what he did). I told the Closing TL that he wasn't having any fun and not to compare me to him as I was often told by my own supervisors. I told the TL that the workload is a bit too much for him and that he works alone. At the end of the shift, I told the tm my honest review and he came looking for me to tell me that he appreciate me working and helping him. I later asked how he is doing and I am told that he's doing better and that they sent him support to make it better for him.

I think it's important to boost morale in a team. People works best when they think they're having fun and if your team has a lot of young people, I think it'll be better if they can feel they are connected with the other team members. It'll be better if they are made to feel included. Treating them to food now and then and eat them as a team, taking breaks as a team, helping each other, etc, and food, food and more food. Especially helping each other and creating a mindset of "having each other's backs" would create a more team atmosphere than anything else.
 
When i first started at target me and my other backroom team member used to race and see who could get each side of the backroom dome first. One side always had an advantage but we would often rotate and in the end it didnt really matter who won or lost. I would not recommend any competition that involves work though. It was fun but it was on us tm to do it for each other and no rewards for winning or losing. I miss the fast fun and friendly days but theyre gone. Im in a new area with new team members and im just focusing on learning them individually. I have one superstar and two people that need serious work and ive found it difficult to manage a dynamic where i rely on one person to constantly have to do more work because the others are lacking and she gets really no benifit from it. She is scheduled more but it seems every day and every shift i have to ask the other 2 to stay late so in the end they all are about the same hours. Sorry for no real advice here and that it kinda just turned into a rant.
 
Games? No. Food is the way to anyone's heart. And don't do that bullshit number where the tl says "there's awesome snacks in the breakroom!!" and it's like GG fruit strips. That has the exact opposite effect that they think it does.

Edit: in all seriousness, while I haven't been a tl at Target, I have managed dozens of people at another job. I never was one for "having fun", but instead took the time to personally get to know each of the people under me. Those organic moments when some sort of click happens between you and another person are priceless. I could never predict when they would happen, they just did. A few times a small group of us would sit outside after closing and talk about how our lives are going, for one it was when we catered a local event, and another after we found out that we enjoyed the same music. Those are always the people who stick around the longest, put in 100%, and do the best job they can because they want the team to succeed!
 
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dabug said:
Games? No. Food is the way to anyone's heart. And don't do that bullshit number where the tl says "there's awesome snacks in the breakroom!!" and it's like GG fruit strips. That has the exact opposite effect that they think it does.

Edit: in all seriousness, while I haven't been a tl at Target, I have managed dozens of people at another job. I never was one for "having fun", but instead took the time to personally get to know each of the people under me. Those organic moments when some sort of click happens between you and another person are priceless. I could never predict when they would happen, they just did. A few times a small group of us would sit outside after closing and talk about how our lives are going, for one it was when we catered a local event, and another after we found out that we enjoyed the same music. Those are always the people who stick around the longest, put in 100%, and do the best job they can because they want the team to succeed!
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This 100%
 
Once a month me , my Etl or Sd will buy breakfast for the inbound team we call them to the Tl office and we all say to them few words of how much we appreciate them and how they are rockstars and killing the doubles for the past month.. might not be much but in the end the end up thanking us as well for being leaders that supports them.
 
When I was in dry grocery we had a really funny TL. We had 4 of us on our team and we would switch places and be each other. We would act out the accent, the walk and everything else. It was so funny but we couldn’t laugh. Just stay in character and act professional. This was a rare thing. We did it maybe 3 times in 2 years.
 
Captain Orca said:
Flash in the pan silly little games are not for adults. The break room perks of the coffee, sodas, ice cream etc costs the store very little and the resultant improvement in morale, attitude and general well being will be quickly realized. Save the pin the tail on the donkey for the kids.
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Having snacks/caffeine in the break room does help a lot, when you need some calories and don't have much time.
 
My first ETL Log used to get the boxes of coffee from DD and dozens of donuts. Flow would work their asses off for the first 15 min break and get caffeined and sugared up to the gills. Yes, the Captain got all sugared up too.
 
Hide a small figurine in each department (perhaps a Spot dog). The TM who finds theirs first, while zoning, gets a prize. This encourages TMs to zone each day and to put effort into the zone.
 
Very interesting because one of my DBOs who has been here for years (even before me) mentioned how “fun” it used to be. She said they used to do a bingo game over the walkie throughout the day back when our motto was “fast, fun, and friendly”
 

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