As the new year kicks off, it’s important to maintain employee morale and company culture. How can you strengthen employee engagement while working from home though? We outline 7 ways to build culture and team cohesion in 2021.
1. Create a virtual lunch room
Here’s an easy way to help people socialize: create a video chat room on your company’s chosen video platform and encourage employees to join during lunch time (an email or calendar invite will do). You can also create multiple rooms if your company is large or the room gets too busy.
At Eden Health, we’ve seen daily virtual lunches quickly become a self-sustaining tradition that people look forward to each day.
2. Sponsor lunches
Since your company may be spending less on office coffee or snacks, you can divert some of that budget to sponsor a weekly or daily meal through Seamless, GrubHub, or DoorDash etc.
This may be another way to boost attendance of virtual lunches or kick off some sharing of your colleague’s favorite lunches from local restaurants.
3. Host a contest for best WFH workspace or selfie
Challenge your team to submit an image of their best WFH workspace. You may be surprised how much you will learn about one another with a single image. You might also find things in common or learn some great setups. Now that employees have been working from home for some time now, you can encourage them to share tips about how they stay productive – from tech suggestions to advice on work-life balance.
4. Encourage employees to stay fit
Consider scheduling a daily work out or shake out session. This can be led by an employee or even a personal trainer from a local gym. Drop it on the calendar post afternoon coffee/tea time and encourage your team to keep their blood flowing.
This may be especially impactful if your company already has a culture of being active and working out together. If you want to turn it up a notch, you can add a competition feature.
5. Help colleagues stay calm through meditation
With the time we save from our usual morning commute, squeezing in a 10 or 20 minute meditation can go a long way to reduce stress and anxiety. To help bring meditation to your company, you can encourage people to use an app like Headspace on their own or, better yet, schedule a time for employees to join a guided meditation by video.
6. Start a company culture newsletter
Create a weekly newsletter that includes birthdays, work anniversaries, and other life events. This is a great way to break up company communications with a lighter tone. You can also ask an employee to share a short blurb about themselves – what they do in their spare time or why they are excited to work on your company’s mission. At Eden Health, we call that a #missionmoment!
7. Start a club (or two!)
Now is a great time to help employees start those clubs they have been talking about. For example, a book club or a movie club are great activities because they foster shared experiences as well as some additional mental stimulation outside of work.
