With the risks of the Coronavirus, most industries have made the big shift to telecommuting. Working from home has proved to become the potential future work setup. A study in Digital in the Round (2020) found that seventy-six percent of employees actually use video conferencing as a complement to their day-to-day remote work. This also improved the productivity of employees by 50%. These are not surprising since employees have been using video calls for meetings more than 50% since the pandemic took event. This was revealed by Owl Labs (2020) in their survey. Seventy percent of employees are working remotely and 92% expect to work at least 3 days from home every week post-pandemic. 81% believe their employers are pushing the virtual office setup even when the virus ceases.
It is quite fascinating to see employees’ appreciation of the work setup quantifiably. There were also surveys done telling that employees are productive despite being and functioning apart from each other. The daily routine may become taxing and monotonous and employee engagement often becomes a problem but these virtual event ideas are to the rescue so you can increase your employees’ productivity, boost their motivation, renew their energy and make room for a positive work environment.
Host events pandemic style.
Of course, corporate events have also gone virtual. As a remote employee, it is a known notion that you have already attended at least one webinar or web conference ever since the big shift began. Video conferencing applications like Zoom or Google Meet provide a great platform to hold these events but what should your next one be? Make a quick survey on what your employees might be experiencing or are interested in and make sure it addresses something. For example, if your survey found out that many of your employees resort to stress-eating or stress-drinking, maybe you should propose a virtual workout or a virtual bartending class (not to reinforce but make compromising ways on drinking responsibly). Take note that mental health and overall wellness should be emphasized since the working situation right now is different and can pose a lot of mental strain which could be detrimental to their physical and emotional wellbeing.
Make your own emoji.
You probably use a collaboration platform to talk to your colleagues and in this digital age, emojis speak best for you and your feelings when both your hands are full or just plain tired from typing. Ask your colleagues to make their own emojis so that they can have a sense of identity, uniqueness and let their quirky sides show when communicating with others.
Make room for check-ins.
This is very important. Check-ins are a perfect avenue to exercise positive speech, empathy and improve open employee communication. It is basically a virtual open table discussion where employees can share how they are feeling at the moment, they can also share a recent realization, a funny story, an innovative way to do things, a new hobby or recipe they just discovered, or a simple fun fact. The objective is to create an open discourse where they can share and be heard. Through this, you will be able to shed light on issues they might be facing or reveal a different side to their personalities. Check-ins can reduce any feelings of loneliness, stress, or cabin fever since knowing someone listens already takes 50% off the payload.
Recognize or award small wins.
Make a little recognition gala where you can award electronic badges or certificates as a token of appreciation for your employees’ hard work, effort, dedication and to prove that you trust your employees. In these trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic, appreciation is given in generous amounts because everyone is trying their best. This can motivate your employees and lift their spirits. It is also a way to encourage positive feed-backing in your organization. Times may be rough and small awards can be like warm hugs for your employees. You can definitely also make use of party favors which you can send out to the days before and ask them to open on the night of the celebratory event. It could be a bottle of wine or a team shirt, it is the thought that comes with these favors that matter anyway.
Virtual hangouts.
You can organize a Zoom coffee and tea party or a wine o’clock for that matter where they can talk, gossip or share experiences like they would in the pantry of a physical office. This can simulate a real office workplace conversation and pretty sure they missed doing that already.
Remember that virtual events may take time some time off your employees’ shift so you need to plan ahead and make every minute engaging and productive. Whatever you decide to do, ensure you can get everyone to participate so that more people in your workplace can partake in the benefits of each event you come up with. Good luck!
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