Need ideas

[nessastamps]

I am a newbie manager to 6 female accounting employees. I would like some ideas of a little "happy" that I can bring to our weekly staff meetings to lift their spirits/put a smile on their face. I'd especially love any idea that would tie into the New Year (motivational/goal-setting/inspiration) for our first meeting of this year.

Thanks!

[Takinmytyme]

How about making them personal journals (Gratitude / Goals). Also do a matching pen, some Post It Note Holders. In the journal you can include some inspiring quotes. Also include a calendar big enough to write appointments or make notes on.

[imthenoni]

A quote I recently found on FB (I have no idea who wrote it) that I like is

"Life is a journey.
Life is too short
to waste on grudges...
Laugh when you can,
apologize when you should
and let go of what
you can't change..."

I know this may not be exactly what you're looking for but it is a good thing to remember and might inspire folks to let things go.

[Angelnorth]

I'm not sure what you mean by "little" - Takinmytyme's ideas sound to me like quite a lot! You also used "meetings" (plural) and said "weekly" so I guessed you were thinking this would be a fairly regular thing? If so, you could spread some of those ideas over several meetings.

For something really little how about a bookmark with an inspirational quote on one side and a calendar on the other. You could stamp on the quote side to pretty it up and personalise it. There's a bookmark calendar template in the thread here.

For something slightly bigger, a journal or desk diary might be good - again, you could personalise with a stamped cover and maybe a printed motivational quote on there.

If your workers have filing cabinets or metal lockers near their workspace then maybe little magnets would be good. The ones made with glass pebbles are cute and you could stamp or print anything you wanted to stick to the back of the pebble. I also did some ages ago that were circles die cut from cereal packet with a stamped circle stuck on top and then triple embossed with UTEE - bigger than the glass pebble ones and also cute.

Good luck with the new role!

[xayide2]

I just like the occasional "thank you" from my department manager. And the de-stress meetings where we can zone out and do nothing related to work.

[SophieLaFontaine]

Free coffee and (food) treats always bring a smile to my face at work!

[RiverIsis]

I was thinking maybe an altered pen - to take notes...

[stamper1996]

Do they like tea? Perhaps bring in a selection of teas to make for the meeting?

[BecBcards]

Before I retired, I too had weekly meetings with my employees. I kept a pretty cloth lined basket at work that I filled with something different each week. Some of the things I used as treats were, chocolate, individually wrapped cookies, flavor packets for bottled water, pieces of cheese wrapped together with crackers, Tic Tacs, mechanical pencils, decorative push pins. It really took very little prep time on my part, but my staff appreciated the fact that I thought enough of them to do this each week. After a while it does get hard to think of new things, you might want to just do this at the first meeting each month or if your folks are like mine were, chocolate a couple times a month was ok. Hershey's makes kisses in lots of flavors.

[stamper1996]

FWIW, you can grab some candy now at Target for 50-70% off. Some of it has a holiday bag but the candy is not wrapped in holiday wrapping.