Workplace Foolishness…

Is your workplace into playing tricks on you and your cohorts? It appears to be something that is growing. Maybe it’s a good thing or maybe not. It depends on the methodology that was used. Was it done in maliciousness or in a spirit of fun and combating boredom to create camaraderie is the question?

Well, here is an article from Fox Business.com, and a survey conducted by CareerBuilders.com, that offers some interesting results:

“Nearly One-Third of Workers Involved in April Fools Day Pranks at the Office, Finds CareerBuilder.com Survey”

CHICAGO, March 27, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX

“Have you heard whispering around the office? Has there been a lot of giggling coming from the cube next to you? Keep your guard up … you are just a few days away from becoming your co-worker’s next April Fools’ victim. Thirty-two percent of workers say they have either initiated or been on the receiving end of an April Fools’ Day prank at work. This is according to CareerBuilder.com’s annual April Fools’ Day survey, which was completed in March 2008 and included more than 6,800 workers.

While covering someone’s cube with aluminum foil, faking a resignation or gluing office supplies to the desk continue to be among the most common pranks, CareerBuilder.com has once again named the top 10 most memorable capers uncovered in this year’s survey:

1. Placed a pair of pants and shoes inside the only toilet stall in a men’s room to make it appear someone was using the stall. It sat there for hours until someone called security to check if the person had died.
2. Sent a fake love note to a co-worker from another co-worker.
3. All the women in office individually spoke to the president, confiding that she is pregnant. By noon, he ‘knew’ that all of his female workers were pregnant and he could not tell anyone because each asked for confidentiality.
4. Called electric company, used a co-worker’s name (and personal information) and said he was moving so the electricity got turned off at the co-worker’s house.
5. Filled the vending soda machine with cans of beer.
6. Adjusted the sprayer in the kitchen sink to squirt co-workers when they turned on the water.
7. Placed a sign on the restroom door that read, “The Company ran out of toilet tissue; please use your own resources.”
8. Paged a co-worker over the loud speaker claiming the CEO was looking for him. The worker went into the CEOs office and the CEO didn’t know who he was or why he was there.
9. Shrink-wrapped everything in a co-worker’s cubicle.
10. Put a ‘house for sale’ ad in the newspaper regarding a co-worker’s home.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 6,897 U.S. employees (employed full-time; not self-employed) ages 18 and over between February 11, and March 13, 2008, respectively. With a pure probability sample of 6,897 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.2 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. A full methodology is available upon request.”

Pranks at Work

Chicago Tribune: “Seriously, silly season starts early”
Boston Globe: “April Fool’s shouldn’t be another day at “The Office”"
Fox Business: “Nearly One Third Workers Involved…”