April Fools’ Day in the Office – What could possibly go wrong?

Think tomorrow is going to be a normal day in the office? No chance! It’s April Fools’ Day, which means it’s the one day during the year that everyone believes that they are an ‘A class’ prankster and it’s accepted or some may say ‘taken on the chin!’

Last year 32% of employees said that they expected to be a ‘victim’ of an April Fools’ Day prank at work according to CareerBuilder.com.

To celebrate this wonderfully wicked day we have put together a list of the Do’s and Don’ts of pranks that should and shouldn’t be done within the work place.

Do’s

Out of order

It is totally acceptable to print off ‘Out of Order’ signs and place them on all of the staff’s toilets doors however, if you are sharing toilets with different offices, make sure you inform them of the prank first! Also, why not add to the prank by placing them on lifts too?!

Don’ts

‘Excuse me, can you repeat that?’

We do not recommend that you place Clingfilm on the speaker of the phone – this will not impress anyone, nor will they find it funny, in a social group they will laugh it off but we are sure it will annoy them for the rest of the day. Also keep your pranks within the office but if they affect things externally then you may have an issue which might catch up with you later on.

Do’s

Flip their screen

As soon as your colleague leaves the office jump to their desk as fast as you can and press Ctrl+Alt+the down arrow this will make their screen rotate upside down and if like most people they only know the basic shortcuts on keyboards then they will be stuck for a while trying to flip it back.

Just in case – press Ctrl+Alt+the up arrow!

Don’ts

A dead mouse

It is never okay to bring a dead animal into the office, even if it is April Fools’ Day so always bare that in mind. However in terms of mouses’ it is 100% acceptable to kill a colleagues – not literally! All you have to do is place a sticker/paper underneath the mouse, regardless of the mouse type it should always work. Once your college realises they are having no luck with their mouse and turns it over make sure the first thing they see is ‘Happy April Fools’ Day!’

Do’s

‘Where has my lunch gone?’

With offices there are communal fridges for everyone’s lunches so why not take this opportunity by robbing everyone’s lunch but leaving yours in there?! Surely this is genius no one would suspect you! As soon as the clock strikes 12pm and you can hear stomachs rumbling have a silent giggle to yourself in the meantime (if you can) hide everyone’s lunches on their desks for when they get back – assuming they have gone to get a different lunch!

Don’ts

Suffering

Never ever let someone get distressed over a silly prank, remember it’s a day of innocent pranks. If you notice someone is getting very emotional about a prank you have pulled, call it quits! Do not make the silly mistake of letting it go too far to the point where you have been reported and it has become a genuine issue that might put your job at risk.

Do’s

Know them

Pranks are only okay if you have a good relationship with the person you are pranking. If you prank someone who do not know then it could end badly for you and them. You could potentially end up scaring someone and when you are revealed as the prankster you can say goodbye to any future relationship with them!

Don’ts

Take it online

Don’t underestimate who else might see the prank – always remember social media is public so at all costs try and avoid involving it! Social media accounts are automatically set to public, so if you haven’t changed yours to private you can reduce your options for the future. Also by taking the prank out office you could sacrifice your job.

With all risks covered and pranks to plan get started! Feel free to Tweet us with your workplace jokes @BizComparison. Happy Pranking!