We live in strange times currently. With almost all office workers being mandated to stay home and work remotely, how are companies supposed to offer mental support when they can’t do their usual donuts for breakfast? Or after work happy hour?
The CEO of Steyer Content, Kate Walton, realized she would have to get creative if she wanted to help keep her employees sane during this unusal time.
A tool that was immediately at Walton’s disposal was Slack, a messaging app used to keep workers connected during the work day. On Slack, Walton encouraged people to hold trivia games, share pictures of their pets, what books they’re reading, and how they’re getting their exercise despite being stuck at home.
After work hours, Walton brought a new meaning to BYOB. She scheduled a video chat happy hour where people could actually see each other (through a webcam of course) and unwind after work while sipping on their favorite beverage. The first virtual happy hour was a huge success and now some employees are planning a virtual karaoke night.
A less popular idea was to have virtual 7 minute group workouts, with Walton and one other person being the only participants.
“Tending to the mental and emotional health of our teams needs to be our top priority,” Walton said in a statement to NPR. “I mean, I really see that as part of the response, even before you get to the smaller issue of how to keep a business going through times like this.”
With all that’s going on in the world, creative ideas like these are a good way to relax and maybe pretend that things are back to normal.