As you prepare for your next staff meeting, look at your agenda. Do you have self-care activities for staff meetings listed? Staff meetings are a great time to create a positive work environment through self-care activities. Whether 1 on 1 or in large groups, a meeting break with fun self-care activities can go a long way towards team-building and boosting staff morale.
Whether you have a remote team, hybrid team, or fully on site team, team members everywhere are dealing with high-stress levels and could use some self-care activities. Adding carefully prepared wellness activities to staff meetings is an easy way to improve company culture. The best self-care activities boost employee well-being, decrease stress, and improve productivity.
Who doesn’t want to help their staff improve their physical health, emotional health, and overall well-being? This roundup of 27 self-care activities for staff meetings will show the best ways to easily incorporate staff self-care into your meetings.
Where to start with promoting self-care activities for staff meetings?
Ready to help your team boost their energy levels efficiently yet simply? Social self-care activities for staff meetings are an effective way to improve overall employee well-being. Incorporating even one self-care activity a week can significantly boost morale.
You can lead employees in deep breathing, mindfulness, or gratitude activities during a short few minutes break. Then, read on for more quick self-care activities for staff meetings. Sharing or practicing these self-care activities will show your team that their well-being is essential to you.
Read more articles about self-care support for teachers:
40 Uplifting Affirmations for Teachers
50 Self-Care Activities for Teachers Who Are Stressed Out
30 Teacher Self-Care Ideas to Reduce Burnout and Stress
Quick Self-Care Activities for Staff Meetings
We’ve all heard the saying, “That could have been an email.” These quick self-care activities will make your staff look forward to your emails and meetings. Our first few tips are short, simple, and easy to share with your team.
1. Embed short breaks
Even a 5 to 10-minute break can be used for a simple self-care activity. Getting outside for some fresh air takes employees away from screens and reduces eye strain. Encourage them to walk around the block or jog on the treadmill for an extra endorphin boost.
2. Practice deep breathing
Deep breathing is a simple way to reduce stress. Whether you have a large or small team, you can introduce a new deep breathing technique at each staff meeting. Team members can easily practice these techniques on their own, as needed.
3. Distribute self-care bingo cards
Instead of giving team members a boring list of self-care activities, make it a fun challenge by distributing self-care bingo cards. Team members can earn rewards by getting 4 in a row, all 4 corners, etc.
4. Model regular gratitude practice
Lead by example with this one. At the end of every meeting, share something about your team that makes you grateful. Or close out your team emails with a grateful note to the staff.
5. Schedule longer lunch breaks
Inhaling a candy bar between meetings isn’t good for your team’s physical or mental health. Instead, block out longer lunch times on team calendars. An extra 30 minutes of “meeting-free “allows your team time to eat in peace and develop a more vital work-life balance.
6. Start the day with morning affirmations
The beginning of the day is a good time for a team conference call. Starting the day with positive affirmations about work can set the tone for your team. Affirmations set the course for a day of productivity and purpose.
7. End the day with positivity
Whatever team messaging system you use, use it to share a daily positive at the close of each work day. This is a good time of day to help staff release the day’s stress and improve their work-life balance. Especially if your team is virtual, this reminds them to sign out for the night.
In person self-care activities for staff meetings
Everyone is going through difficult times. Demanding projects may add a lot of stress to the team. New hires may need help adjusting to a new organization. You need a great activity to promote mental health for many people.
As the team leads, you must block out time for more extended self-care activities for your staff. The subsequent few suggestions of self-care activities for staff meetings will improve your team’s physical health and provide tools for emotional self-care.
8. Schedule group yoga classes
A yoga session can work wonders for your team’s well-being. Bringing in a corporate yoga instructor or scheduling an online yoga class together is a great way to provide emotional self-care during a staff meeting. In addition, focused breathing exercises accompanied by yoga techniques are a great way to release stress.
9. Start a gratitude wall
A simple way to incorporate positivity in team meetings is with a gratitude wall. Team members jot down something about their peers they appreciated on a post-it note and add it to the wall. Knowing this is a regular part of meetings will keep them looking for positives to share.
10. Massage away stress
There’s nothing like a massage to melt away the stress of the day and any negative emotions. Ending a staff meeting with a massage is a great way to break up any excess tension and bring back the good vibes.
11. Provide healthy snacks
Your team loves a good donut, cookie, or other sweet treats. BUT healthy snacks provide a brain boost minus the sugar crash. So stock the staff lounge with healthy snacks on a regular basis.
12. Zumba the blues away
Who knew getting your body moving to rhythmic beats at work was physical self-care? That’s what your team members will be saying after a meeting turned Zumba class or ending with learning the latest line dance. So dance your team into a good mood!
13. Bring in the board games
Want to engage a large group? Board games are great team-building activities that unite a team for a common goal. Well-known games are an easy way to incorporate different activities for everyone to participate in.
14. Make time to interact
Whether it’s small groups for trivia challenges or pairing up teams of 2 or 3, give your staff time to talk. For example, 3 things in 3 minutes is a simple icebreaker where partners have just 3 minutes to find 3 things they share in common.
Self-care activities for your virtual team
Can’t call the team into the conference room for meetings or to share the good news? Having a fully remote team should continue you from practicing self-care in a group setting. Your entire group will bloom from learning new skills to practicing self-care in a new way.
15. Start meetings with a mindfulness minute
Getting caught up in what’s next on the agenda is easy. But we all need time to stop and embrace the present moment. So start your meetings with simple mindfulness activities, like a 5 senses exercise.
16. Schedule an online cooking class
Cooking shows and challenges are all the rage. Schedule a cooking class with a local chef or let the foodie on the team coordinate. Provide financial self-care by having the ingredients delivered to your team members.
17. Have regularly scheduled happy calls
Your team shouldn’t shudder to see your name on their cell phone. Instead, at a set time each week, make it a habit to acknowledge when a team member has a good idea or goes above and beyond. Phone calls can move your conversations from purely transactional to relational.
18. Share a positivity playlist
A struggling new hire or recently transitioned employee may need a self-confidence-building playlist to get them pumped to tackle a new challenge. Curate a list of upbeat, positive music and share it with your team. They can pump up the jams and the productivity.
19. Virtual gratitude wall
Even if your team is spread out across different zip codes, they can still spread gratitude. Have your team use a program like Jamboard or Google Slides to show their appreciation for each other.
20. Offer wellness services
Providing your staff members with the opportunity to learn from an expert about all things wellness related is a major plus for the workplace. Taking the time to invest in your team’s health and wellness pays off in multiple ways.
Not only will your staff have a better understanding of how to improve their own individual health, but they will also be more likely to stay with the company for longer periods of time and become more productive members of the team.
Gift Giving is a Self-Care Activity
Let’s be honest. Who doesn’t love a gift? These thoughtful self-care gifts will help you connect with your team while improving their state of mind.
Ready to elevate your gifting beyond a generic gift card? Keep reading for ways to uniquely acknowledge your team members and improve their well-being.
21. Acknowledge milestones
A birthday or work anniversary is always a good reason for a gift. So, is celebrating a newly acquired client or hitting a sales goal. Show you care about your employees by recognizing their special days and acknowledging their contribution to the team.
22. Encourage Mindfulness
In our busy lives, we have to consciously make efforts to practice mindfulness. A guided mindfulness journal or book of affirmations can help create that habit. A subscription to an app, like the Balance app (offers one complimentary year), also guides listeners to daily mindfulness activities.
Check out our round-up of self-care apps:
23. Give gratitude tools
You’ve focused on gratitude in staff meetings. Gift your team the tools to practice gratitude in their daily life. A gratitude journal, motivational quote cards, and books focused on positive thinking fit the bill.
24. Personalize your purchases
Want your team to spend more time together? Stock the staff lounge with your team’s favorite snacks and drinks. Of course, they’ll want to hang in there and show off the personalized coffee cup or water bottle you bought them.
25. Support goals to get active
We all know physical health is essential. So if a team member is working on their health, support them with protein bars, supplements, a new yoga mat, or even personalized gym towels.
26. Work those brain cells
When did you last solve a Rubik’s Cube or complete a Sudoku puzzle? These types of gifts can improve problem-solving skills and boost confidence. So, grab a 3-D puzzle or trivia book for a team member or the staff lounge.
27. Subscribe to monthly gift boxes
As a team or individually, anyone would be thrilled to receive monthly wellness gifts with a subscription box from Big Chop Box. Shower a new mom with a postnatal box from Fourth Phase or gift your staff with teacher self-care boxes. It’ll be no question your office is a great place to work.
Implement these self-care activities for staff meetings now
Professional self-care is an important thing to facilitate during your staff meetings. Be sure to seek out your team’s feedback. They may want to share their hobbies and talents with the team.
So, what are you waiting for? Make self-care activities for staff meetings a recurring agenda item – today!
Cheers to healthier and happier employees!
Read more articles that aim to enhance your time at work:
How to Stop Dreading Work: Creative Actionable Tips to Help You!
51 Positive Affirmations for Work When You Want To Quit
Daily Affirmations For Black Women In Toxic Work Environments
