The Office Prank Landscape is Changing
While typical office pranks include filling a room with balloons (awful for the environment), a cup of water spilling when the door opens (this can ruin a cellphone), or wrapping a carrot up as a Tootsie Roll (just cruel, Dawn), Salesforce Admins have a whole other playing field to work with.
The reason April Fool’s Day started might be up for debate (was it a change to the Gregorian calendar or the vernal equinox?), but one thing everyone can agree on is how technology has opened the door to a whole new world of pranks.
DISCLAIMER: Perficient has not tried these, nor do we recommend them; these are curated for entertainment purposes only.
For those who just can’t help themselves, here are some of the top ways the internet says Salesforce Admins can play April Fool’s pranks.
Salesforce Prank 1: Demand Praise
Salesforce Admins can be your best friend when you need a special report or if something isn’t working, but what about the rest of the time?
This prank involves creating a validation rule for your selected group. While validation rules are meant to improve the quality of your data and “verify that the data a user enters in a record meets the standards you specify before the user can save the record,” they can also be humorously used to force your selected group of users to admit that you, the Salesforce Admin, are indeed, the greatest of all time, if they want their record saved. Learn more about Validation Rules here
Credit: The Accidental Admins
Salesforce Prank 2: Set a Surprise Gif
Text just doesn’t have the personality it needs sometimes, which is why a surprise animated gif makes inputting a record status much more fun! The Accidental Admins describes how to make your Closed/Won, Closed/Lost, and other commonly used statuses more engaging.
Credit: The Accidental Admins
Salesforce Prank 3: You Need a Vacation
The last prank is the most in-depth, requiring a bit of plotting beforehand. To add a personal spin to The Wizard New’s “Babel Fish” prank, we suggested choosing a language of a location you think the target should go on vacation — the more exotic, the better. Nothing like a nice hint right before summer, right? When they log in for the first time, they will see a familiar layout, but that will be about it.
Credit: The Wizard News
Pre-Pranking, Use Your Head
While it’s easy to get caught up in the fun of April Fool’s Day, compromising your company’s integrity (or your job) is just not worth it. Before pulling any prank, make sure you know your audience. Doing something seemingly small and silly can have negative consequences when done in front of the wrong people or at the wrong time. A prank must be easily and quickly reversed and not cause permanent damage to property or objects.
If you have any doubts, don’t do it. And if you have any good pranks we left out, list them below.
