24 Funny Paper Plate Award Ideas for Fun&Recognition in the Workplace

Everyone wants to be known as good at their job. Having your skill acknowledged and even awarded provides an amazing boost to motivation, productivity, and engagement.

But did you know that when you add even greater specificity to awards, it can uncover even more great benefits? Pointing out someone’s one-of-a-kind strengths or silly idiosyncrasies makes people feel not just seen, but known, so any praise they get down the line feels genuine.

Plus, taking a less-serious tone with awards is great for team bonding and a stronger culture. Today, we’re sharing a few dozen specific, creative, and funny paper plate award ideas. 

What are paper plate awards? 

Paper plate awards are a low-stakes, super fun form of workplace recognition. 

Ideas for paper plate awards include titles like “Best Dad Jokes” and “Most Caffeine Dependent.” These acknowledge and appreciate someone’s personal qualities, quirks, and behaviors. 

Why do they work?

Companies love this type of award because they aren’t competitive, they’re not stressful, and they don’t cost anything. 

Employees love them because they’re funny, specific, and true, like inside jokes. This is essential to forming a high-morale culture of recognition. 

It’s also easy to integrate paper plate award ideas into current methods of recognition, especially virtual recognition platforms like HeyTaco.

How to create a paper plate award ceremony

Paper plate award ceremonies can happen virtually or in the office and require little more than some creativity. Here are some tips for running the show. 

Choose a theme 

What will the ceremony focus on–superlatives? Funny performance-related titles? You can also arrange it around a themed event, like Taco Tuesday. The ideas we share coming up can help you narrow it down.

Encourage peer nominations

In many workplaces, no one knows an employee better than their coworkers. Encourage everyone’s participation with cool category ideas and peer nominations. 

Keep it light and inclusive

Everyone and anyone can win a paper plate award, so there’s no reason someone should feel left out. Also, the title shouldn’t brush up on sensitive areas or be making fun of someone. We are laughing together, not at each other.

Pro tip: Pair each award with a taco using HeyTaco to double the impact 🍽🌮 Stay tuned later in this article for cool taco-themed ideas.

Paper plate awards ideas list: Creative, funny, relatable work awards 

Congrats! You’ve won Most Likely to Read Our Paper Plate Awards Ideas List! Funny, creative, and completely relatable titles await.

🎭 Performance & Personality Awards

How do your coworkers’ personalities shine through on the job? This portion of the list celebrates unique, standout attributes, making teammates feel seen and understood. 

These are also great ideas for remote workers who need more specific recognition and team interaction to stay engaged. 

1. The Always on Mute Award

“Hello? Are you still there?” This employee keeps the microphone off for what we assume is a pretty valid reason. At least we can appreciate that they are a selective, careful contributor. 

2. The Most Likely to Have 437 Tabs Open Trophy

Bookmarks? They don’t know them. Their internet browser is the Library of Alexandria. They inspect each link in a new tab, open every article for later consumption, and are certain they’ll forget a task if they don’t leave it open and in progress. 

3. The Zoom Background MVP

Are you…on a spaceship right now? In a pineapple under the sea? This award goes to the employee who cannot be serious on camera. You’d better hope the settings don’t get stuck like that when the CEO hops into the meeting.

4. The Snooze Button Award

Sorry buddy, did we wake you? They’re here, and they’re basically on time, but they are definitely not raring to go just yet. At least they’re getting their beauty rest. Work-life balance is really important.

🌮 Food & Fun Awards

The next category on the paper plate awards idea list is one of our faves: FOOD. This is a good pick for smaller groups as well as siloed and cross-department employees who might interact most during breaks or lunch. 

In any case, we all come together over food, so let’s do lunch and hand out these accolades.

5. The Snack Stash Supreme Award

Oh, you have a protein bar in your tote? Cute. But we’re talking wasabi almonds, parmesan crisps, whole bars of salted dark chocolate. This winner always has something that hits the spot. A little positive reinforcement will ensure they keep it up.

6. The Lunchtime Legend

This legend makes the most of their lunch. Whether they know the perfect spot (and it really is perfect), pack their own elaborate spread, or keep right on working with a fork in one hand, they earned this.

7. The Coffee Connoisseur 

Small-batch roasted with a balanced flavor profile, you say? This award-winner takes coffee very seriously. Recognize the person who brings a portable pour-over brewer with them, or one who won’t clock in without 32 ounces of cold brew firmly in hand.

8. The First to Suggest Tacos 

It doesn’t take much for this employee to work up an appetite. Plus, they’re all about getting together for lunch, which is perfect for a little extra team building. 

🕺 Team Spirit Awards

Sometimes an employee’s attitude, enthusiasm, or personality traits improve morale and performance at work. If the company were to put anyone’s face on a billboard for the brand, one of these people would volunteer for sure.

Never neglect to reward exceptional team spirit.

9. The Hype Machine

Tight deadline? Doubled workload this week? Need to pull ourselves out of a hole, stat? Come on guys, we’ve got this! The hype employee always has a pep talk at the ready. They never miss a chance to reassure someone that they can do it.

10. The Office DJ

No need to Shazam that song. This employee knows what it’s called, who recorded it, and when. If there’s ever an opportunity to play tunes during business hours, they have the perfect playlist for today’s goals. How are you not already following them on Spotify?

11. The Brings the Vibes Award

Having a bad day? We wish you an ounce of luck keeping that up in their presence. The vibe-bringer will always make sure you’re having fun at team events, is full to the brim with good energy, and is blessedly easy to talk to during stressful times.

12. The Company Mascot

You have to appreciate the person who is always referring new candidates, talking up their job on social media, or wearing company swag. The person who best embodies core values can win, too. 

🧠 Productivity-ish Awards

It’s really interesting to observe the method behind the madness. These funny work awards acknowledge the strengths and habits of people who get the job done in highly effective or unusual ways. 

13. The Spreadsheet Sorcerer

If it ends in “.xlsx” you know exactly who to call. The spreadsheet sorcerer won’t just educate you on proper convention; they are a veritable encyclopedia of hotkeys. Without them, it’s difficult to guess what we’d do with company data.

14. The Inbox Zero Hero

One thing they never hear is, “Did you get my email?” The Inbox Zero Hero cracked it open ASAP, gave a solid response, cc’d the right people, bcc’d a coworker who needed a covert heads-up, and followed up with you before close of business. 

15. The Meeting Magician

Questions? Feedback? Well, yes! This employee isn’t afraid to make the average meeting more productive or entertaining than originally anticipated. If they aren’t leaving the room with full clarity, no one is. Thanks for keeping us all on the same page!

16. The Photo Finish Champion

We all see them procrastinating. Are they pretending to be busy? There’s no way they’re going to make that deadline. But wait! Somehow, they always get it in right at the last minute. Guess they work best under pressure.

💬 Communication Awards

Remote and hybrid teams depend on their devices to get it all done, which has surely led to some award-worthy behavior. This portion of our paper plate awards ideas list is for funny, profound, and productive communicators.

17. The Emoji Enthusiast

“Everything okay over there?” 👍 “How are you?” 😁 “Anyone have anything else to add?” 🙋🏽‍♀️ The Emoji Enthusiast is a whiz at visual and symbolic communication. Show them some love for saying so much without typing a single word. 💕

18. The Slack Savant

Collaboration? Troubleshooting? Responsiveness? The Slack Savant has got it handled. Whether they’re managing channels, unearthing old convos in a split second, or tracking tasks, this app was made for them.

19. The Meme God

The Meme God is the team’s master of relatable humor. Specializing in levity, brevity, and niche pop culture references, they rapidly deploy memes and GIFs for work anniversaries, birthdays, and happenings where everyone could stand to lighten up.

20. The HeyTaco Haiku Master

Hard shell or soft shell

Tacos inspire the poet

Thanks for being you 🌮

Leveling up: From paper plates to daily recognition

Small and quirky they may be, but paper plate awards are still just that–awards. In an ideal workplace, a buildup of daily recognition results in the moment we give awards and rewards.

Without daily recognition, awards aren’t just surprising. They seem to come out of nowhere. They can make someone feel awkward or suspicious. Building rapport with employees who are engaged in a culture is done by consistently making them feel seen.

Test out paper plate awards by putting employees in charge and introducing them to daily recognition at the same time. HeyTaco is a platform designed just for this. 

Roll out HeyTaco in Slack, Google, or Microsoft, and invite employees to pass out tacos to paper plate awards they invent off the cuff. Most Random Fact Shared During a Meeting, anyone? 🌮 

The everyday magic HeyTaco creates includes gamified elements like leaderboards and Tacotars, providing plenty of inspiration for funny titles and observations that make coworkers feel seen and appreciated.

BONUS: Our favorite taco-inspired award ideas

You can also use HeyTaco to find out who deserves an award, and for what. Here are some taco-themed paper plate awards ideas.

21. Taco Supreme 🌮 👑

Performance, morale, company values, recognizing their peers. This employee is the whole enchilada–er, taco. 

22. Mild, but Mighty 🍅 💪

A pleasant disposition or introverted nature can belie an employee whose skill and confidence take the team to amazing heights.

23. Extra Guac, No Drama 🥑

This team member dishes out a helping hand without making a big deal out of it. They also love giving at least as many tacos as they receive.

24. A Little Bit Spicy 🌶️

Bold and assertive, this coworker keeps everyone on their toes. Sure, they can be demanding, but they hold themselves to high standards, too. 

Recognition doesn’t have to be fancy—just fun

Adding fun rituals to the workplace is more cost-effective and bond-building than any plaque or gift card could hope to be. Ask around–the most successful recognition programs aren’t characterized by prestige and exclusivity. They involve frequent, specific, and authentic recognition. 

Whether you’re passing paper plate awards or sending virtual tacos, what matters is making people feel appreciated. Try HeyTaco for free, and have employees host their own paper plate awards in the team chat this week.