A Guide to the Office Prank
I consider myself somewhat of a corporate-culture connoisseur and influencer. That is to say, outside of my technical role I excel at being keenly aware of the social dynamics within my team, and enhancing the strength of those pre-existing bonds. This guide is not to ensure you will pull off the most incredulous stunt, nor the most original. My guide is meant to show you how pranking and team-building can be synonymous.
A Time & Place to Prank
Opportunities to prank consistently present themselves in the office— birthdays, returns after long absences due to vacations and life events, and the inevitable goodbye. The larger the team, the harder it is to keep up a consistent quality of pranking for each event. This is completely acceptable and natural, unless the title on your business card reads “Chief Prankster”. If this is the case, ignore what I just said; you will be strictly judged— So make it rain with pranks, Chief!
The Anatomy of a Proper Office Prank
Unfortunately, a proper prank is unlike a pyjama squid; there are no exacting dimensions or physical attributes to relay. However, a proper office prank does have some telling characteristics.
Characteristic #1: Rooted in Quirkiness
The basis of a stellar prank should be rooted in a trait either unique to the gal or guy, the team, or the occasion. This quirky trait being amplified is something everyone appreciates and feels comfortable celebrating. Generally speaking, this quirk would be Human Resources approved. It should not encroach even remotely on race, age, sex, sexual-preference, weight, or their uncommonly large ears.
Pranking is about highlighting something the prank target does or enjoys that they openly vocalize in the office and/or proudly display in their social media profiles. Examples of acceptable quirks may include their choice in text editing software, loyalty to a particular mobile platform, a staple clothing item, a craft they sell on Etsy, the craft beer they chase around the city, the musical instruments they play or their favorite band.
If there is something quirky about the Pranking Team, by all means, introspect. If the Pranking Team is handy, adding homely improvements to the Vacationer’s desk space might be a laugh. Vegetarian Pranksters might hang an assortment of vegetables in the Meat-Lover’s cubical. Note that hanging vegetables is a stronger prank that strewing strips of bacon across the monitor. More on why in a bit.
Finally, occasion-driven pranks are relatively simple to invoke. Quirkiness comes from the uniqueness of the event and its props. If he is a new father, cue the run for diapers to cover their Aeron chair. If it’s her birthday, find some balloons for the most incorrect age or superhero (Spongebob?).
Characteristic #2: Invokes a Positive Response
The most important attribute your Prank requires is an immediate understanding and positive response. It may take days or weeks, but when you first feel that initial inkling of what a prank might be, try this: Close your eyes and imagine the big reveal once every detail has been perfectly executed. What does the Pranked person’s face look like? If you answered stunned, embarrassed, dreadful, annoyed, or thoroughly confused, I urge you to forget the idea and re-read this piece in its entirety.
A polished Prankster avoids any situations that involve time-consuming or laborious cleanup. That is, unless you are a veggie janitorial pranking team or the title on your card says “Clean-up Crew Member”. Then by all means, wrap your Meat-Lover’s space in bacon.
Keep in mind, a neutral response can be a positive response. Some folks are not outwardly expressive, but do take to the thoughtfulness kindly. It is important not to impose an expectation for tears of joy or cartwheels.
Characteristic #3: Little commitment required
This guide assumes your team is made up of people with varying levels of commitments to family, gyms, and of course, working project deadlines. A proper prank is engineered to be executed with a wide range of thoroughness such that more time and commitment will yield better results, but minimal time and commitment will still be recognized and appreciated. Interchangeability of responsibilities is also a great feature to incorporate into the prank at hand. At its conclusion, give the entire team credit, even if a minority of folks contributed. There may be occasions when the entire office is just too busy for anyone to pull off any extra-curricular activities. In times of crunch, pranks must be sacrificed so that the team succeeds at its primary goals. A smile and a genuine wish for a “happy birthday” is suffice.
Organically Grown Prank-matoes
Artificially enforced pranks wither and die from the weight of more responsibility added to each person’s already busy days. However, partaking in a secret heist to delight someone is quite energizing.
Step 1: Plant the Seed by the Watercooler
By watercooler, I mean literally any encounter real or virtual that will get other coworkers onboard. “Dave will be back Monday after giving his talk about animation at ComicCon. What do you think about each of us drawing something for his desk?”
Step 2: “Yes, and…”
As anyone who has taken an improv class might know, brainstorming relies on the “Yes, and…” attitude. It is one of the cornerstones of team-building, and one that is often absent from off-the-shelf experiences companies purchase for team outings. Whatever the initial idea, bringing a new idea to the table or enhancing one of the existing ideas rallies the team together for a positive cause. The most elegant solutions rely on each Prankster’s knowledge of the Pranked to incrementally personalize the experience.
“I think his talk at ComicCon was about superheroes. Maybe we could all draw, or attempt to draw, our favorite superheroes.”
“Yeah, great idea, let’s add monsters to the mix since they require less skill. I could draw one that looks like his smelly gym shoes— defeatable only by the Arm and Hammer! Someone could do a Deadline Monster that creeps up.”
“Since no one draws as well as he does, lets just stick to monsters, scratch the superheroes.”
Step 3: Do your part
In this example, each team member would contribute a monster drawing, but one person might do an extra one, and someone may abstain. Some monsters may be drawn in crayon at a remedial level, and others in professional watercolors. Monsters may arrive late. Perhaps, someone who didn’t contribute a drawing comes in a bit early to arrange them in a frightening fashion. Perhaps, a Jello Monster (complete with stapler) appears unannounced on Monday only to be defeated by consumption.
Keep the Prank Train Chugging
This one is simple: Take photos and keep momentos to pass along to future generations of Pranksters. A history of Pranking tradition needs to be relayed to each new member of the team. Whether pranks succeed in surprising or simply serve as a moment in common, they shape a team’s culture, and effectively the culture of the company. That culture is this: employees actively learn about each other, help each other, and take part in the celebrations and sorrows each person experiences outside the office. The office slowly becomes a very human experience bound by real loyalties and values. Last I checked the title on my business card, I wasn’t yet a “Robot”.
Appendix of Notable Pranks
- On what was supposed to be Formal Friday, the team came by in flip-flops and shorts to applaud my dressy efforts.
- Our team decorated the exterior of our manager’s office to match the team’s internal CI website, complete with test failures.
- To celebrate an app release, someone baked a cookie-cake shaped in the form of an iPad with a frosted display.
- Scheduled an extremely-early, highly-important meeting (for 1) as a cheeky reminder for our teammate who was always late.
- Decorated a desk in Canadian wedding theme, complete with stuffed moose (not pictured).
- Threw a Britney Spears Birthday party under the guise of a meeting.
- Designed a tasteful LP-award for the 2 double-platinum App hits achieved during their engineering tenure.
- Raised donations for a meaningful charity as a parting gift
- Returned to an empty office, with only a shopping cart and puzzle to guide me in my pilgrimage to gather my belongings.
If you have any notable pranks to share, please leave a note!
