As the COVID-19 pandemic charges on, changing the daily course of our lives, these are testing times for all of us. More and more of us work from home, especially in the tech industries, and this transition hasn’t been easy for many.
Sure, articles on “how to work from home” have cropped up everywhere online, but personally I think they all read like a rehash of one another. They all include trivial tips like “Get dressed as if you’re physically going to work”, “Don’t forget to eat” or “Have all your meetings on video conferencing software like Zoom”.
This article aims to be a little different . I have practical, original and battle-tested tips, which having implemented these myself in my organization I can wholly recommend from personal experience!
I promise you that by the time you finish reading this post you’ll find at least one idea that resonates.
So let’s not waste any time and let’s get into business:
1. Game On
Find an online game you can play with your team. Some ideas from my team: Fibbage, Geoguessr, GameMonk (if you’re using Slack), and if you’re feeling a bit more hardcore – World of Warcraft.
2. Cyber Happy Hour
Host a department \ company-wide virtual happy hour. Take the opportunity for fun activities that lighten up the atmosphere. Share your personal funny moments, pictures of life in quarantine, make a funny toast or just drink and be merry.
3. Virtual Rooms/Channels
Open various Slack channels to help vent and cope. Someone from our department opened a “WFH survivors – only parents” channel where us parents share pictures of us trying to work with the kids running around, share happy (and less happy) moments of tantrums and countdowns to bedtime (theirs, but sometimes ours).
4. Virtual Kitchen
Create an environment that will mimic (or at least try to) the shared space at the office where you can pause for a bit, grab some coffee and chat with co-workers.
5. Shared Musical Playlist - These present more opportunities for team interaction and having fun with a musical playlist everyone can contribute and listen to. Spotify has their own solution but there are others.
6. Shared Lunch – Do you have a team lunch? Don’t cancel it, keep it. Schedule a time where the team can sit down and eat “together”. The upside? Nobody’s going to steal your fries!
7. WOFH (=Work Out From Home!) - WFH takes its toll on the body, so you can hit two birds with one stone by doing sport while supporting a local trainer. Many trainers are losing income from cancelled lessons. How about contacting a local trainer to set up a group Yoga session for your team via video?
Do you have a suggestion for a good game? Another valuable tip? Share with me in the comments!
Tali Fulman
Data Queens - Co-Founder
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