Whoa. July already? Month #7? Are we more than 1/2-way through the year? Dang! 

Well, there are still several months of summer ahead of us, so here are a few things to do in July to keep the workplace fun:

In the first week of July we find Workaholic’s Day and National Fried Chicken Day right next to each other (the 5th and 6th, respectively). Why not bring a bucket of KFC to anyone who’s commonly found plugging away at least three hours after quitting time? 

For the bold and caring: Tell the workaholic why you’re doing it as you spread out a red-checkered picnic tablecloth across their desk and eat the fried chicken with them as you force the conversation to be about anything but work. Like, say, chicken trivia.

Okay, here’s a no-brainer: July is both National Ice Cream Month and National Social Wellness Month, so it only makes sense to have an ice-cream social. Heck, have several ice cream socials.

Make them even more fun by combining them with other celebrated food days:

- National Strawberry Sundae Day (7th)
- National Sugar Cookie Day (9th)
- National Pecan Pie Day (12th)
- National Tapioca Pudding Day (15th)
- National Cheesecake Day (30th)

For some reason, tapioca and ice cream seem a bit odd together, but I’ll bet you can be creative with it.

July is also National Beer Month (Beer 101) and National Hot Dog Month, and I’ve got a great idea here, pending approval and/or any boundaries established by your lawyers and/or your HR folks (how’s that for covering my bases?).

Ever been to a wine-pairing? If not, it’s when various dishes are served alongside wines that go well with them (or vice versa, depending on your perspective).

Well, why not have an ‘after-hours’ barbeque and include a beer-pairing? In other words, what kind of hot dogs go best with what kind of beer? A nice selection of pilsners, bochs, ales, porters, and stouts ought to get you started.

As for hot dog varieties, try a bacon-wrapped dog, a Chicago-style dog (with tomatoes, dill wedge, sweet relish, and yellow mustard), a chili-dog, and maybe a Seattle-style dog (with cream cheese, onions, and kraut). See Wikipedia for a long list of hot dog varieties.

If HR and the lawyers pooh-pooh the beer, at least do the hot dog thing. (And make sure you know your hot dog etiquette.)

And since July is also National Baked Beans Month, it only makes sense to include Boston Baked Beans at these barbeques.

After all the ice cream, beer, and hot dogs, your arteries will probably be thankful for National Salad Week (the last week in July).

Suggestion: Have a “salad pot luck” all week long. Open it up to any kind of salad—- Potato, macaroni, jello, fruit, egg, taco, waldorf, etc., etc. Share recipes. Or, better yet, combine them into a small ‘salad cookbook’, which either you or the local copy shop can whip together, and then give everyone a copy.

Wow. That’s a lot of food. Thank God this month is also Anti-Boredom Month. I say use this as a counter-balance to the Workaholic thing and ask people about their hobbies. Then make a “Betcha Didn’t Know” feature on a bulletin board featuring info about what co-workers enjoy doing away from work.

To wrap up, just be glad that National Nude Day (14th) does not occur during National Hug Week (15th – 21st), and also be glad that I’m not recommending these days be celebrated at work.

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Filed in Work, Business, Motivation, Management, Workplace, Corporate Culture, Retention