Everyone wants to be known as good at their job. Having your skills acknowledged, and even rewarded, provides a huge boost to motivation, productivity, and engagement.
But did you know that adding even more specificity to awards can unlock even more benefits? Pointing out someone’s one-of-a-kind strengths or silly quirks makes people feel not just seen, but known, so any praise they get later feels genuine.
Plus, 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.
Paper plate award ideas 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 these awards because they aren’t competitive, stressful, or expensive.
Employees love them because they’re funny, specific, and true, like inside jokes. This is essential to building a high-morale recognition culture.
It’s also easy to integrate paper plate award ideas into current recognition methods, especially virtual recognition platforms like HeyTaco.
How to create a paper plate award ceremony
Paper plate award ceremonies can be held virtually or in the office and require little more than 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, coworkers know an employee better than anyone. Encourage everyone’s participation with cool category ideas and peer nominations.
Keep it light and inclusive
Anyone can win a paper plate award, so no one should feel left out. Also, the title shouldn’t touch on sensitive areas or make fun of anyone. 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 at work? This section celebrates unique, standout attributes and helps 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 basically on time, but they are definitely not raring to go 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 keep them going.
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, or won’t clock in without 32 ounces of cold brew in hand.
8. The First to Suggest Tacos
It doesn’t take much to get this employee's appetite going. 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 can boost morale and performance. If the company put anyone’s face on a billboard for the brand, one of these people would volunteer.
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. Why aren't you already following them on Spotify?
11. The Brings the Vibes Award
Having a bad day? We wish you an ounce of luck keeping up with them. The vibe-bringer always makes sure you’re having fun at team events, is full of good energy, and is blessedly easy to talk to during stressful times.
12. The Company Mascot
Appreciate the person who always refers new candidates, talks up their job on social media, or wears 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 teach you proper conventions; 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, responded promptly, 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 expected. If they leave the room without full clarity, no one does. 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’ll 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, digging up old convos in a split second, or tracking tasks, this app is 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 moments when everyone could use a laugh.
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, daily recognition builds up to 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. Build rapport with employees in an engaged culture by consistently making them feel seen.
Test paper plate awards by putting employees in charge and introducing 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 for off-the-cuff paper plate awards. 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 why. Here are some taco-themed paper plate award 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 lends a hand without making a big deal 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 better for building bonds than any plaque or gift card. Ask around: the most successful recognition programs aren’t defined 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.
