Dance-Offs In The Office

Hang on to your dancing shoes as we welcome to another next installment of "Casual Friday," my lighter look at something in Human Resources, Management, or Business. Today I want to discuss the toe-tapping phenomenon of Dance-Offs.  Please take a moment at the end of my post to comment on any of your own experiences with Dance-Offs in the office. 

Dance-Offs In The Office

Typically spontaneous, Dance-Offs may happen in your office space.  If they do, you had better be ready to act.  From an effective management point-of-view, it would be best to stop these as soon as possible.  Remind everyone involved that they are on the clock and kindly ask them to return to their desks.  This is where it should end.  However, in the event that you are unable or unwilling to stop the madness, here are a few general rules you may want to consider:

1)  The first rule of Office Dance-Off, is you do not talk about Office Dance-Off.

2)  The second rule is you do not talk about Office Dance... Oh, who are we kidding.  The only reason to have a Dance-Off is so you can brag that you beat the guy in the cubicle down the hall.  Everyone is going to hear about this.

3)  Seriously though, who picked out this music?  An 80’s wedding singer?

Okay, this list is not going as well as I had expected.  Allow me to start over.  Here are a few general rules you may want to consider:

1)  Move it.  As there may be some people in the office on a call with a client or working on a deadline, you may want to move the Dance-Off to an area such as the Cafeteria or Break Room.

2)  Time it.  Try to limit the Dance-Off to no more than 30 minutes.  This should be an adequate amount of time to allow the participants to recharge their batteries with a mid-day diversion.

3)  Hands Off!  Whatever form of dancing is going on, it is highly recommended that you encourage participants to keep their hands to themselves.  The last thing that you need is a Sexual Harassment lawsuit.

4)  Fairness.  Anyone that wants to dance should be given the opportunity - do not discriminate.  Also, consider allowing every participant to have an opportunity to select some of the music.

5)  Groove it.  All for one, and one for all.  If you want to generate some office camaraderie, get out on the Cafeteria floor and show them how you used to get down on the Middle School dance floor back in 1992.

I will admit that I have never seen an actual Office Dance-Off in any of my workplaces, but conceivably it could happen under the right circumstances.  Perhaps you have seen a few.  Perhaps you have won a few.  I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments section below.  I would like to leave you now with this amusing dance I found on YouTube by Ricky Gervais from the UK’s “The Office”

And remember all of you Human Resources professionals:  Be Human... Be a Resource...  Be a Resource for Humans.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are by the author Trevor Stasik, and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer or any other organization. Please note, this information is based on my understanding and is only to be used for informational and educational purposes. Do not take what I am writing as advice. Seek your own legal counsel and/or see a tax accountant before making business or personal decisions. The author of this post makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.