Employment Spot

April Fools’ Day

Ten appropriate office April Fools’ Jokes

Do you want to pull off an office April Fools’ joke that will go down in company history?  Before you do, it is important to consider the possible consequences. Is this April Fools’ joke appropriate for work?  Will it offend, upset, or embarrass a co-worker?  Would you be upset if someone played this April Fools’ prank on you?  Consider the worst-case scenario, and if there is even the slightest possibility of any negative consequences, then it is best to play it on the safe side and leave the April Fools’ prank for friends and family.  However, if your company has a laid-back culture or if people have successfully pulled office April Fools’ jokes in the past, then April Fools’ Day may be the perfect way to bring a little more fun and laughs into the office.  Here are 10 appropriate office April Fools’ jokes:

1. Take all the lunches out of the refrigerator around 10 AM and hide them (preferably in a cooler).  You could also hide just two or three lunches, or swap the food in everyone’s lunch bags.
2. Switch two of the keys on a co-worker’s keyboard.  Better yet, switch the same keys on everyone’s keyboard in the office.
3. Put a co-workers office supplies inside a Jell-O mold. (Great for fans of Dwight and Jim on The Office television show!)
4. Cover someone’s cubicle and everything inside it with aluminum foil.
5. Swap desk drawers between co-workers — just make sure there isn’t anything personal in them!
6. Plastic wrap someone’s car.
7. Redecorate the victim’s office with posters of their rival college or most-hated sports team.  Don’t forget to change their computer background and create a new screen saver.
8. Place a piece of tape or a Post-It note that reads “April Fools!” on the bottom of every employee’s mouse.  Simple yet sure to get a chuckle from everyone.
9. Filling your boss’s office with packing peanuts is a little unrealistic, but a more practical office April Fools’ joke is to tape Styrofoam packing peanuts to sheets of paper and then tape the paper to the windows of your boss’s office, so it looks like the entire office is filled.  Check out this picture for the full effect.
10. Team together with your co-workers.  Meet on a different floor or outside the building and have everyone call in sick or inform the boss of different off-the-wall emergencies that will keep them from coming in to work.

To pull off these office April Fools’ jokes, it is best to arrive to work early or stay late the night before.  Or you can do the dirty work while everyone is out for lunch.  Once you have pulled your office prank, play it as cool as possible.  Your co-workers will spend the entire day trying to guess who pulled the joke.  Even better, play an office April Fools’ joke on a few select co-workers, and do it on yourself too — you will be less suspicious this way.  If you get all of your co-workers involved and play an office April Fools’ joke on your boss, be sure that he or she is the joking type.

For a list of 10 of the most memorable office April Fools’ jokes, check out CareerBuilder.com’s annual April Fools’ Day survey on April Fools’ Day Pranks at the Office.

And again, as a final reminder, be sure you anticipate the consequences before playing office April Fools’ jokes.  Don’t let a seemingly harmless office joke be the reason you get fired from your job!  If you’re not sure that office April Fools’ jokes will go over well at your company, take a look at these articles for some more advice:

• “April Fools’ Day at the Office – To Joke or Not to Joke”
• “Office Pranks for April Fools’ Day? They May be No Joking Matter, Survey Suggests”

Good luck, have fun, and Happy April Fools’ Day!