We asked you to send us advice for your employer. We received many great responses and below is the winning entry. We’ve kept the sender’s name private, but the winner will be receiving a $200 gas card. Enjoy!

And don’t forget to check out our latest contest, Model Photoshop Parody.

The winner!

I am a big fan of making things more fun and keeping people healthy. If my company could find a way to bring fun, competition, and entertainment into the workplace, everyone could benefit. If we dedicated half an hour a week to a project that the entire group could take part in, such as building a virtual community (such as a SIMM City type of a game), or holding team competitions in a central location that may end in a round robin-type tournament, individuals could have fun, build camaraderie, develop new and existing relationships, and help instill a culture that is likely to retain talented staff. Getting up and interacting with peers can improve overall health, foster teamwork, relieve physical (back and leg) discomfort from sitting, decrease eye strain, and help employees feel valued and supported by their company.

Half an hour a week for friendly competition would benefit everyone at the company and likely help the culture flourish into a positive and supportive environment.

We had so many great entries we decided to share a couple entries that came in a close second. We hope you enjoy them.

Runner-up #1

A few college buddies and I developed a simple rule system that I still try to abide by, even today, 15 years later. Frankly, these rules apply everywhere and for everything. You can take these rules and add any complexity you want, but I’ve found the simpler and basic a rule is, the easier it is to follow.

I think corporate and political America would be able to make monumental (and positive) changes by simply following this:

1. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid!)
2. Time is money.
3. Follow through.
4. Stop whining and start listening.
5. Cross your T’s and dot your I’s (one more I added years later).

Runner-up #2

I once used a great leadership activity that created a sense of camaraderie and team building among our team leaders -- a scavenger hunt at a local park. We had a large project that needed to be kicked off and required a lot of cross-functional team work to be accomplished. I created ideas on how to kick off the project and handed out a list of how to find clues that would lead the finder to the next clue. At the end of the hunt, it took the entire team to work together to ultimately decide which way to do the kick off that would work best for everyone at the plant. We celebrated our decisions with cookies and apple cider in the park on a wonderful fall day. It was a great team building exercise tied to a collaborative effort to kick off a major initiative for the company.