Office Olympics 09

We had our first Office Olympic games today and it was loads of fun despite the slow start and the Wild Boars losing :(

To explain a bit more, at WSO2 we have 4 different houses that all employees belong to - Wild Boars, Cloud Bots, Titans and Legion. Every so often we have various activities and games where each house tries to be the champion for the year. The biggest event we have is the Basketball championship. The Competition can get fierce but the main thing is for everyone to participate even if its just cheering on team mates.

While having a bit of fun and breaking away from every day work is certainly a good reason to have such activities, the main aim is to break down barriers, bring about better team work and understand the real strengths of people we work with everyday.
I've seen new comers getting more comfortable at work as well as the more quieter people coming out of their shells. Leadership and creativity are also skills that really get put to the test.

As an organizer of events for the company the challenge is to come up with interesting events that really get people going. Its important for everyone to join in and have a good time. and of course cool prizes can really motivate people too!

Coming up next at WSO2 is probably a carrom or Table Tennis championship in September and of course the Basketball matches start in October. Lets hope the Wild Boars do better here than at the Olympics and regain our title :)