Promote Healthy Competition

Perhaps the most anticipated employee activity at DaVinci Dental Studios, a Beacon Bay Dental laboratory in West Hills, CA, is the annual ping pong tournament held on the lab’s outdoor ping pong table. About a third of the staff members sign up each year and are randomly assigned singles and doubles brackets during the course of the four-week tournament. Players set up their own game times—usually during breaks or after hours—and, using the honor system, report back the results. Adding to the excitement, each participant contributes about $10 to the pot that’s split between the winners. 

“The energy in the company is incredible and we all get very competitive,” says Chester Garcia, CEO. “People take it very seriously—many take classes or even buy handmade paddles—and everyone talks trash to one another, even the ones who don’t...