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Tech Team Traditions?
Antigua Nice asks: "I have recently been promoted to manager of a young IT department and would like to introduce a tradition and/or mascot for the upcoming season. Although we are busy 24/7/365 we are especially busy during the NFL season since we are a sports related company. The goal of this is to add some excitement to the new team, unite the members and keep department moral high. It might also be worth mentioning that I have recently added two more administrators to the team. If you currently have any department traditions or know of any, could you please take a moment to share them with me. They could be anything from going out for beer and wings after the first game to each member bleaching their hair. Any and all input is welcome."
American Hotrod and try some variations. I like the funnel-down-the-pants one.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
I work for a tech support office that handles several sites across the state... We have a "Bonzo the clown" in the tech Van... Whenever all four of us go on a trip (usually just me.. but sometimes we take a trip), one of my coworkers, the responsible one, usually tries to plan things out in the vehicle, to make sure everything'll go smoothly when we get there. My boss, however, is a bit more immature. Whenever my coworker tries to do this, my boss picks Bonzo off the dash, waves it at her, and repeats "BONZO'S NOT LISTENING!!" over and over. Kind of a mascot, and kind of a tradition.
Have hot cheerleader mascots. Keep them under your desk (pref @ groin level). Naturally, cheer leaders must try out... and you are the manager.
;-)
This will not only raise moral but raise nerdy appendages.
You may have to resort to the blow up kind if your department is ultra-nerdy
Ok, that's enough. I'm dropping Ask Slashdot from home page preferences again. Who let the MBAs in the room anyway?
One perinial favorite is "perpetual hazing" of administrators (or sales droids, if your team is fortunate enough to have access to some). Nothing brings a team together like having a common interest in tormenting someone who isn't part of the team.
Be careful when setting bounds though. For example, back in the late 70's (before I knew better) one of my rules was
which seemed clear, simple, and to the point--until you realize that you're dealing with bright, highly competative people who deal with complext rule systems all day, and are trained to look for security holes. The revised version, worked a little bit better, but (perhaps because they'd seen me flinch), the team realized that hazing your manager is even more fun than hazing sales droids. It took almost a month to get their focus back on the sales department where it belonged.-- MarkusQ
P.S. Important note: never haze anyone who makes your travel arrangements.
some Reebok commercials featuring Terry Tate the office linebacker
http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=119394
http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=119989
http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=120603
http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=122458
http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=119937
http://www.fileplanet.com/download.aspx?f=119936
Oh, and next Friday... is Hawaiian shirt day... so, you know, if you want to you can go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans.
Now if I only could find a team with such a tradition....
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
Right, that's like picking your own nickname. When I was in college, my suitemate decided to give himself a nickname. One day, he said "call me Jizz". Of course we agreed.
The stupid fucker had no idea what "Jizz" meant though, and just heard it somewhere and thought it sounded cool.
There's a rule: you can't ever pick your own nickname.
No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men.-Ronald Reagan
Try "no outsourcing Friday", employees love shit like that.
We need a specific day for that?? Oops!
=)
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
No, they're all welcome. He clearly stated that this is a "bi weekly happy hour".
I'd rather be lucky than good.
Not IT, but when I worked at McDonalds, there was a spout on the pop machine for pure carbonation or whatever. Thing is, it looks just like sprite. So some vet. would challenge the new person to a speed-drinking contest, with a full cup of sprite, whoever won got to leave early. The vet would fill the cups, and the newbie obviously got a cup of carbonation. I don't know if anyone has ever drunk the stuff, but it's very, very horrible, like bleach or acid...new guy takes one gulp, spews...good times had by all. The hardest part was everyone keeping a straight face when someone was like "Hey, wanna do a drinking contest?" to the poor sap...
I know nothing