Best 13 Wellbeing week ideas to engage your team
A Wellbeing Week is not just a short-term morale boost but an opportunity to encourage a culture of engagement, care and unity.
Wellbeing activities are important in reducing stress, raising productivity and demonstrating that you really care about your team. A Wellbeing Week in a modern work environment can be a great way to inspire lasting changes and keep your teams connected and motivated.
This article includes 13 simple and practical Wellbeing Week ideas that engage employees and improve their mental and physical wellbeing. These ideas are flexible so that you can adapt them to your unique needs.
Why organise a wellbeing week?
A Wellbeing Week is a great way to kick-start the process of building a healthier and more engaged workplace.
It’s more than a gesture; it’s an investment in your team’s mental, emotional, and physical health. It boosts your organisation’s culture and overall productivity.
Organising Wellbeing Week lets you promote workplace wellness and let employees know that you care for their wellbeing. It also helps you to create a shared experience between teams which helps you foster camaraderie and connection between teams.
Here are some key benefits that you can observe after organising a Wellness Week:
Increased productivity
Wellness programmes directly relate to productivity gains. Wellbeing activities that reduce stress, promote physical health, and aid with mindfulness can help employees feel more energised and focused.
Healthy employees take fewer sick days and are more motivated and productive. During a Wellbeing Week, you can target wellness activities that will help recharge employees and build habits that will help them be productive in the long term.
Improved workplace atmosphere
A Wellbeing Week can help make your workplace more inclusive and supportive. These wellbeing activities make team members feel more connected to their colleagues, improving their team dynamic.
A space for collaboration can be created through simple activities, such as a group yoga class or a shared lunch.
Less conflicts and better communication
When your employees are happier, more mindful, and less stressed, interpersonal conflicts in the workplace decrease. Wellness activities help your team members find tools to cope with stress, communicate, and deal with day-to-day work challenges.
Activities during a Wellbeing Week focusing on emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and empathy will help your employees communicate better and more effectively.
Long-term health benefits
A Wellbeing Week can help employees discover new practices or resources to help them maintain their wellbeing that they wouldn’t have otherwise. If employees are empowered to take control of their health, they are more likely to make lifestyle changes that will help them in the long term.
Organising a Wellbeing Week does require some resources and planning, but the long-term returns can be substantial.
13 Unique wellbeing week ideas for your office!
Kickstart your office wellness program with these 13 unique Wellbeing Week ideas, tailored to suit a range of budgets.
Whether you are looking for cost-effective options or high-impact experiences, these activities are designed to engage your team, boost morale, and support overall wellbeing.
Choose the ideas that best align with your goals and resources to create a memorable, impactful Wellbeing Week!
Wellbeing Week free activities
Free wellness initiatives are ideal if you don’t have the budget for paid activities. These activities are just as impactful as those that require money, helping teams decompress, connect, and learn new stress-management skills.
1. Mindfulness and meditation sessions
You can provide daily mindfulness and meditation sessions during the Wellbeing Week to help your employees reduce stress and improve employee wellbeing.
You can find plenty of free resources online for short guided meditations, from apps like Insight Timer to YouTube channels focused on mindfulness.
You can assign 15 minutes for a calm, guided meditation at the beginning or end of the day. It will help your team members improve mental clarity and focus.
2. Walking meetings
Organise walking meetings during Wellbeing Week to encourage employees to take their meetings on the go. This is great for teams that need a break from screens to get moving while working.
You can make this a refreshing part of the day by choosing scenic or peaceful routes near the office or encouraging virtual teams to go outside when on a conference call.
3. Gratitude wall
Set up a Gratitude Wall in the office where people can post notes about what they’re grateful for or a positive experience they’ve had recently. Practising gratitude can improve mood, increase appreciation, and build a positive workplace environment.
You can use sticky notes on a bulletin board or digital gratitude board on a shared online platform like Trello or Slack.
4. Stretch breaks and desk yoga
Guided stretching breaks or desk yoga sessions are excellent ways to reduce the physical strain of sitting for long periods. During Wellbeing Week, encourage your employees to take a few minutes to do these Activities.
These activities improve blood flow, offer tension relief, and help prevent the pain caused by sitting at a computer for long hours.
5. Skill sharing and peer learning sessions
Host a skill-sharing session to showcase your team’s unique skills. Employees can volunteer to teach something they’re passionate about, such as cooking tips, language lessons, or basic coding.
These fun sessions help build connections in the team, making work more enjoyable and collaborative. It will also encourage people to communicate and share ideas outside work, helping them build stronger bonds.
Activities under £20 per employee
You can create an experience that feels special for your employees with a modest budget, even if you don’t have a lot to spend.
Here are a few Wellness Week ideas under £20 that offer a great return in the form of increasing team engagement and personal growth.
6. Wellness challenge
Teamupp offers wellness challenges that can be customised for your Wellbeing Week. The app offers themes such as health, wellness, and office fitness challenges designed to encourage physical activity, mindfulness, and positive interactions.
Teamupp app offers low-cost, high-impact ways to foster team spirit and promote wellness, such as step-counting competitions and mental health check-ins.
Team members can compete in teams or individually, and the app’s interactive features, like leaderboards and photo challenges, add a fun, competitive element that keeps participants engaged.
Price: Starting from just a few cents (£0.5) per employee
7. Fruit and smoothie bar
A fruit and smoothie bar is an excellent healthy alternative to standard office snacks. You can buy fresh fruits, yoghurts and other smoothie ingredients, and let employees make their own snacks every day during the Wellbeing Week.
It’s a great way to encourage healthy eating habits and can even become a fun social spot for employees to hang out and socialise with each other.
Price: £10 – £15 per employee for the week
8. Mental health workshop
A mental health workshop with a professional or licensed counsellor is an excellent idea for Wellbeing Week. You can choose topics such as stress management, coping with change, or building resilience.
These sessions give practical tools that employees can use in their personal and professional lives. These workshops can also lessen the stigma of talking about mental health and create a supportive work environment.
Price: £15-20 per employee
9. Office plant giveaway
A refreshing, mood-boosting gesture would be to add plants to the office or allow employees to take a small plant home. Research shows that greenery can boost mood, increase productivity, and reduce stress.
Have a small plant station where employees can pick their own low-maintenance plants, such as succulents or peace lilies, to add a little life to their workspace.
Price: £10-15 per employee
10. Lunch-and-learn sessions
Have your staff host a ‘lunch and learn’ session where a guest speaker or local expert presents on wellness-related topics like nutrition, sleep or financial wellbeing.
You can have your team members eat a healthy meal, learn how to improve your quality of life and meet their coworkers at the same time. You can tailor the topics to your team’s interests. It’s a great way to improve employee wellbeing and engagement without taking time away from work.
Price: £10-20 per employee
Big budget ideas for wellbeing week
If your organisation has the resources, high-impact wellness activities could be a worthwhile investment.
Here are a few ideas if you have a sizeable budget for your Wellbeing Week:
11. On-site massages
Bring in professional massage therapists for chair massages. Offering 15 to 30-minute sessions per employee can reduce tension and stress. This activity is excellent for Wellbeing Week because it allows employees to relax and recharge without leaving the office.
Price: £30-50 per employee
12. Team offsite retreat
Plan a day or weekend retreat for employees to engage in wellness activities such as yoga, hiking, meditation, or wellbeing team activities. Offsite retreats offer your team members time away from workplace distractions, allowing them to create stronger connections with their colleagues.
The retreats can also be a great way to unwind and recharge your batteries. You can also organise team-building activities or have teams participate in other wellbeing ideas for added benefit.
Price: £200-500 per employee based on location and activities.
13. Nutritionist cooking class
How about bringing in a professional chef or nutritionist to lead a cooking class so that employees can learn to prepare healthy, ‘easy’ meals? It’s a fun activity that provides employees with practical skills to support more nutritious eating habits.
For instance, classes could focus on meal prepping, healthy snacks, or plant-based cooking—all of which will improve your team members’ long-term wellness.
Price: £50-80 per employee
3 Simple wellbeing day ideas
If you are short on time or looking for an introduction to wellbeing initiatives, a Wellbeing Day can be a great way to boost your team’s morale. You can include activities like meditation sessions, yoga, or luncheons.
Here are a few impactful, easy-to-implement Wellbeing Day ideas that you can customise to your team’s specific needs.
1. Step challenge with Teamupp
Organising a day-long step challenge through the Teamupp app is a great way to encourage employees to participate in a fun, fitness-focused competition. The app allows participants to keep track of their steps and set personal or team-based targets for physical activity, even during a busy workday.
The Teamupp app includes tracking and leaderboard features, which help keep it fun and competitive. You can add small rewards (top steppers or teams meeting specific milestones) to encourage participation.
This step challenge facilitates movement, breaks up the workday, and reduces the negative effects of prolonged sitting, all while fostering a positive team spirit.
2. Wellness workshop sampler
If you would like to introduce various wellness practices in a single day, consider hosting a “Wellness Workshop Sampler” where employees can choose from several short sessions on different topics.
For instance, you can run a 30-minute session on nutrition tips, a resilience workshop, or an interactive stretching or meditation class.
This format gives your team a chance to learn how to take care of themselves with a variety of wellness strategies and how to discover new ways to care for their physical and mental health.
It’s also a great way to get employees used to doing things they might not have done before and get them excited about adopting these habits daily.
3. Pop-op wellbeing lounge
Create a Wellbeing Lounge in a common area during the day so employees can relax and rejuvenate. The lounge could have comfortable seating, calm music, and stations for various activities.
For example, you can set up a space for quiet reflection, offer calming herbal teas, or provide colouring books and puzzles for employees to unwind.
Consider adding short guided activities at certain times, like a 10-minute meditation or a short gratitude exercise. These simple activities support mental wellbeing by allowing employees to de-stress during the day without taking time away from work.
A Wellbeing Week, or even a single Wellbeing Day, can do wonders for your team’s morale, health and productivity. An activity that works to promote a healthy workplace culture focuses on mental and physical wellness. It shows your team members that you care for their wellbeing and health.
Do you want to organise a Wellbeing Week?
