Photo: www.facebook.com/doctorevent
Companies have been living in a new reality for about a year, the conditions of which are dictated by the pandemic. At some point, the restrictions eased, but now people have returned to their homes. Some companies have decided to transfer the state to "perpetual remote work". The editors of Habr Career decided to find out how Russian and foreign IT companies solved the problem of team building and corporate events.
The main trend of spring 2020 is the online bar. People gathered in front of monitors with their favorite drinks at the agreed time to communicate informally. The trend has gained popularity not only in our country, but also abroad. At Srax, which has about 150 employees in five offices around the world, about a hundred people came to the first meeting, and the party had to be moved from Highfive to Google Hangouts.
Over time, I just got bored with drinking. Companies began to conduct real online home parties, during which everyone could demonstrate their skills: play the balalaika, juggle tangerines or perform salsa. Some firms invited hosts to prevent the party from turning into an uncontrollable talent show. The most courageous even broadcast what was happening on YouTube.
Quizzes or quests were a good option for team building, and the latter were convenient to carry out even in messengers.
Over time, I got tired of drinking and playing, and then the companies began to organize master classes. For example, the creative studio Cohereheld events dedicated to cooking, design and self-development. With the introduction of self-isolation, all meetings began to be held virtually. The topic was really interesting. So, one of the classes was devoted to growing mushrooms at home. The popularity of the classes was so high among employees that the company opened the recording to outsiders.
Online bars began to transform into eateries. For example, Ingenio invites team members to Dinner every day at noon. They are awarded a scholarship through DoorDash, and a bonus is given one free meal per week. In addition, every day at 5:00 pm Happy Hour starts, when you can not only eat but also drink.
Abroad, a number of companies now offer their solutions for organizing remote team building. For example, Water Cooler Trivia creates text-based online quizzes that can be sent via email or Slack. They can be tailored to fit your company profile. The convenience of the format is that employees can be distracted by the quiz at any time, especially if they all live in different time zones. And this is not as obligatory as participating in Zoom parties, which many have already hated since spring.
Another company, Let's Roam, has launched a home-based quest option - participants must search for items in their own homes. The company also offers quizzes, charades and other activities.
San Francisco-based company The Go Game organizes video games ranging from 45 minutes to an hour. Each has a real host, the game itself includes quizzes, karaoke and contests. Interestingly, the company managed to transfer its previous activities from offline to online, and now such games are in demand.
But Tiny Campfire offers to arrange camping at home. The company delivers tiny bonfires and other camping items to employees, and then sets up a room at Zoom with a facilitator, apparently an experienced scout. They say that during the pandemic, such campings were arranged at Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Pepsi, H&M and Netflix.
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In Russia, however, the trend was quickly picked up, and now our companies also offer a variety of corporate leisure.
Team "Vkontakte" at the very beginning of the pandemic has reorganized one of the internal community at a remote format. There, colleagues from different locations could gather for informal events.
It began with sports: training in yoga, stretching and Full Body, a club of plank lovers who tried to stand in the plank twice a day via video link, a lecture on home training from the head doctor of the Russian national football team was held. Then they switched to cooking: they cooked together according to the recipes of chefs and colleagues, organized draws, the winners of which received a set of products with home delivery. They held games: "Brain Slaughterhouse" and "Quiz Pliz", "Own Games" and even tried to play "Mafia". It also came to study: there were lectures on cinema, history and even medicine. The hobbies became collective, employees made lamps and scented candles, transplanted house plants and collected bouquets, studied painting and ceramics, and created 3D paintings.
In the online cinema OkkoWe decided to adapt meetings in Zoom to the usual offline formats as much as possible. The company spends about once a week on a small online holiday. During the lockdown, Okko managed to play board games, meet teams in an online bar, play Coffee Roulette, organize an online trip without leaving home, and hold master classes for employees' children.
The company regularly polls employees about what kind of "remote" entertainment they would like to try, arranges polls and voting. Traditional offline welcome dinners for beginners have moved online. As part of such a dinner, new employees prepare meals together at a culinary master class, get to know each other better and ask questions to their HR colleagues.
The first online corporate event was the most memorable for Okko. Five online rooms were prepared for him by interests, between which employees could move. In one room - to play "Crocodile", and in the other - to discuss how to entertain children in self-isolation.
Online excursions to other countries have become a cool new format for the company. Employees chose where to go for online team building. As it turned out, the favorite country for Okko employees is Japan.
In Badoo even quarantined kept the tradition of pizza Fridays. Employees are sent promotional codes for delivery, and during parties they communicate in the evening chat and share photos with their favorite food.
The company is actively developing different formats. In April, there was a Radio Badoo party with hosts, studio calls, custom songs and invited guests. The broadcast lasted for several hours and was devoted to various topics on which comic experts spoke. “It was great to finally hear everyone after a month of quarantine, order your favorite songs, send greetings on the air and joke in a chat room,” the company shares. By the way, London colleagues were also involved in the participation.
At Geek Day, the company turned to TV and hosted a One Hundred to One game. In the virtual studio, about a dozen engineers competed to answer questions from the presenter about the company and colleagues. The most popular answer options were determined in advance by polling the Badoo team. The game helped new employees to immerse themselves in the atmosphere and the team. And the "oldies" had to remember whether it was true that their colleagues found a soul mate on Badoo, and whether the Russian champion in high-speed Rubik's cube assembly really works for the company.
On Halloween, all the employees were given Jack Lantern kits, which they cut together on the air, played a themed quiz and just chatted.
At MegaFontested more than 15 different leisure options: from business games to quests, and based on them created an internal directory of online teambuildings. The company conducted quests in Telegram and organized online strategies, in which it attracted partners.
In the online cinema IVIdecided that for comfortable work at a distance, it is important to establish communication between employees and tops, as well as inform them as much as possible about the company's news and the situation with the coronavirus. Two job contests, several “I know IVI” quizzes were held for colleagues. Regular business breakfasts were organized with the leaders of the areas, and a “Random Coffee” was arranged between employees using a Slack bot to introduce those who usually did not contact at work. Newcomers were provided with online welcom trainings, and they also introduced an “equator” adaptation - a friendly meeting after 6-8 weeks of working in the company.
Employees were involved in all sorts of activities: quizzes, joint training sessions, online parties, business breakfasts, and contests. Once the company held a comic drawing of a quarantine kit with buckwheat, masks and toilet paper.
“We were even able to 'take' the top management to the strategic session in France ... Online, of course. We drew themed backgrounds for Zoom, sent everyone lunch boxes with “forbidden” and small souvenirs in the French style, ”shared in IVI.
In general, the company says, teambuilding formats have to be constantly experimented with in order to remain effective.
At Dodo Pizzathis year for the first time celebrated the company's birthday online. A YouTube broadcast was organized and a TV program for Dodo TV was formed. Employees conducted live master classes from home: on making French sauce, playing sports, creating memorable photos. For dessert they were given a game called “Guess the melody”.
And the WayRay team moved the traditional quarterly WayRay Friday offline meetings with online discussion of the results and held them as webinars in Zoom. Employees gathered for online breakfasts before the start of the working day, played video games online. Even the smoking-room was moved online. For two months the company held a Photo challenge, during which the guys took photos on the instructions of their colleagues.
In general, this year has shown a lot. For example, the fact that even an ordinary working meeting at Zoom can turn into a whole show. Nice parody featured on Saturday Night Live: