The holiday season, homemade treats in the coffee shop, and booths adorned with boughs of holly are some of the work elements that make going to the office fun this time of year. Sadly, most of us will celebrate again from a distance.
However, we've had a long time learning how to make the distributed workplace more humane, so I turned to my network on Qwoted to see what companies are doing to energize their pandemic-weary colleagues. Maybe I'll get some ideas from your answers.
Most of those surveyed have organized holiday-themed events. On-demand staffing platform Wonolo partnered with virtual reality company Remio to send Oculus glasses to its 300 employees for a company-wide virtual dance party. It's also running a scavenger hunt to help its many new employees "put a name with a face and a link on a shared activity," said Rachel Kim, vice president of employee experience. The company's virtual party will feature crafts, a Secret Santa, and gifts for everyone from their employer.
Software development automation company Bitrise extended the festivities to employee families with virtual tours of Santa Claus. "The kids love it," said Rik Haandrikman, vice president of growth.
overall theme
Articulate, which makes tutorial creation tools, has been fully remote since 2002. This year, it used the Weve virtual events platform to host a variety of themed parties for different parts of the world. The leaders got a budget to choose a gift for everyone (like New Orleans pralines) and wrapped them together as a sample.
Just in time for the holidays comes a new product from the venerable greeting card maker Hallmark. Its video greeting cards allow users to record short video messages that the service automatically assembles into a multimedia greeting accessible from a QR link on the card.
Kansas City, Missouri-based VideoFizz was the lucky company to choose Hallmark for back-end technology. “It's a dream come true for me because I created this technology to connect families,” said Executive Director Laura Steward. "And Hallmark has the best artists in the world." Steward said some of the greeting builds are an hour or more long, which isn't a bad deal for $5,99.
Automated messaging technology company Evive is hosting a test event via Zoom, with the winning team receiving €1,000 to donate to a cause of their choice. The teams were intentionally made up of people from different departments to encourage interaction. Allego used his own sales support platform for a Christmas song that anyone could join.
Tips from a veteran
Virtual event provider Teambuilding.com has hosted thousands of virtual parties, and CEO Michael Alexis offered some advice. Don't try to mimic physical events too closely, he said. "There is a need to provide more structured games and activities," he said. Start with icebreaker questions about things like people's earliest Christmas memories or their favorite Christmas movie (see the full list here). Google "holiday questions" and enter a contest.
"Secret Santa fits quite well" in a virtual format, Alexis said. Give employees an estimate to buy something for others, then use the company return address to keep the origin of the package anonymous. You can also throw a bingo party with themed clues like "do you still believe in Santa" or "gave a present" instead of numbers. Here are 21 more ideas from Teambuilding.com.
Financial management software giant Quicken recently scheduled a two-day virtual tour of a resort on the Amalfi Coast, a destination selected by employees. “Each of the employees had gift boxes delivered to their homes with trinkets and snacks specific to the Amalfi Coast and were able to meet virtually at a resort destination through a shared meeting space,” said Linda Itskovitz, director of marketing.
Loom asked employees to use his platform to record short videos of something they are thankful for. A man shared his gratitude for his family and then surprised his son with the gift of a Playstation 5 on camera. “Encouraging our team to share a little bit about themselves, whether it's related to work or not, creates affinities across time zones and teams,” said CEO Joe Thomas.
Calendly, which creates a platform for scheduling meetings, hosted a virtual potluck and recipe swap just before Thanksgiving with employee-submitted recipes compiled into an eBook. During a virtual Christmas cocktail class earlier this month, people learned how to make two holiday drinks from an expert bartender and sip their creations during a virtual cocktail party, said Julia Betts, head of employee engagement. Owl Labs took a similar approach with virtual crown-making classes and charcuterie classes, as well as a biscotti-making session with an Italian chef.
If you're considering a virtual holiday event this year, Sammy Courtright has some advice. The co-founder and brand manager of workforce engagement platform Ten Spot recommends limiting all activity to less than an hour. "This not only strengthens engagement, but keeps Zoom fatigue to a minimum," he said.
So read this:
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