As social distancing and working from home become the new norm, office protocols and social engagements could easily fall to the wayside. At Acumium, we’ve launched a few creative initiatives to engage employees and clearly communicate partner benefits that can be used during this time. Here are some initial COVID-19 practices that have been successful at Acumium that you could share with your own teams.
Good Home Office Spaces
For our employees to be productive at-home we wanted to make sure they had a good, comfortable office space. That meant we needed to get partners the proper equipment for their new home office. Headsets, computer chairs, monitors and more were delivered to employees, so they have a good work environment moving forward.
Feel Less Isolated By Using Video Meetings
Conference calls don’t always have the same dynamic as in-person meetings do. Make meetings a little more personal by having video chats. The small change in having a video call instead of a phone call can make the world of difference when social interaction is limited.
Shared Lunch Time
Taking a lunch break during the day is important to break up the workday. At Acumium, lunch was usually a gathering time in the kitchen to catch up and grab a bite to eat. We’re offering the option for partners to jump on a virtual hangout over lunch if they’d still like to get together and have some fun.
Virtual Happy Hours
Since all our regular employee events have been put on hold (staff meals, chili cook-off, etc.), our internal teams brainstormed new ideas to help people stay mentally healthy and feel connected while working remotely. Using Microsoft Teams, we scheduled a virtual happy hour for the entire staff to hang out, listen to music and enjoy a beverage from their home office. Relaxing and listening to different stories from the week allowed people to weigh-in on tips and tricks that helped them get through the workweek.
Additional Stand-Ups
As a company, we meet bi-weekly to discuss project work across different departments and any upcoming events or roadblocks that might need to be addressed. As our work from home program kicked-off, we adjusted our company stand-up to be weekly for clearer communication and to relieve any anxieties about workload, future business happenings, and employee benefits. We also sent out additional communication about programs we offer internally that can help reduce stress while we manage our way through the pandemic.
Family Activities
Work-life balance is important to us, and now, more than ever, we’re trying to give employees tools that can help manage being home while the rest of their families are home too. We created a communication channel in Slack where employees can share different activities for their kids and loved ones that might help reduce screen time while parents are getting through the business day.
These are just a few of the initial programs we’re using to get through our days inside. If you have questions or would like to learn more, feel free to contact us to speak with one of our partners about these initiatives.