Simply construct worker engagement and staff construct throughout your subsequent digital assembly with our assist. One of many difficulties of distant groups is the shortage of a water cooler. A spot the place individuals can casually chat about non-work topics whereas grabbing a espresso or a snack. To assist fill the hole left after we all left the workplace for the digital house, we started experimenting with our interactions on Slack and in our each day staff huddles. Listed below are our groups favourite methods to assist construct engagement, get smiles, keep in contact, and dig deeper than the work.
Our options use a mixture of Slack, Zapier, Zoom, and extra to get smiles.
Concept 1 – The Digital Dance Social gathering
Our staff makes use of Slack as our major communication technique. As soon as our staff member Eunice launched us all to Giphy on Slack issues received far more colourful. Our CEO at FireFly Group Occasions created a channel referred to as Digital Dance Social gathering. Anybody at Firefly can name for a dance occasion. As soon as it’s referred to as everybody posts their greatest animated gif by way of Giphy relying on what’s being celebrated. Wednesday there’s a obligatory dance occasion. The remainder of the time staff members can have fun all method of causes to bounce from successes to recognition of failures. Every thing goes within the Digital Dance Social gathering.
Concept 2 – Lightning Spherical Query Generator for Conferences
Okay, we’re dishonest. This one is just not particular to Slack. However should you huddle on Slack this can be utilized throughout your huddle. We began asking random fast fireplace questions throughout our morning huddles. Some mornings we select one individual to reply 3 questions (nostril goes!). Or we would every reply one query. The questions are simple to reply, fast, and don’t decelerate the work. In addition they give us a enjoyable technique to discover out extra about our staff members. To make it simpler, the staff created the Fast Fireplace Query Generator. Each time you click on the button it pulls up a random query from our financial institution of questions (about 300+). You need to use it at huddles, mid assembly on a break, and even sneak questions in on shopper calls. Please steal this and do superior issues. Click on right here to make use of the Fast Fireplace Query Machine
Concept 3 – Superior Bot
This one is a bit nerdier to rise up and operating and requires the usage of Zapier to hook up with Slack. Superior Bot is a chat bot that picks a random staff member every day to both problem or praise. If you’re chosen for a problem it’s fully voluntary. Listed below are some samples of the challenges that Superior Bot would possibly sling your method.
- Ask @everybody in #Basic what it is best to have for dinner.
- Submit the next message in Basic Chat: The final individual to sort “fluffy” on this channel is a goober
- Please inform somebody on the staff that they scent fabulous right now.
- Share one piece of non-public historical past with the the subsequent staff member that posts
We relied on Zapier’s Formatter to energy the number of random issues wanted to make this work. If you wish to construct your personal Zap and wish to decide our brains, please attain out, we’d be joyful to assist.
Concept 4 – The Stoke utilizing Workflow Builder
Workflow Builder is included together with your Slack subscription and we like it. The easy rationalization is that it permits you to automate messaging and different processes with none code. One of many methods we make the most of that is with The Stoke. On a regular basis at 9am a type is posted to our Basic Slack channel that asks, “What are you stoked about proper now?” Just one staff member can reply the query per day. It’s grow to be a enjoyable little contest to see who can reply it first. The solutions are posted in a Stoke channel for the staff to see and absorb the optimistic vibes.
We additionally use Workflow Builder to submit our huddle hyperlink each day, remind us of our core values, and so on. It’s an important instrument to make use of with static info that you simply need to automate like weekly reminders. There are much more complicated makes use of of it when you begin including a number of the Slack Apps into the combination.
Concept 5 – Water Cooler Chats
We realized that outdoors of our each day huddle there was by no means any socialization that occurred at staff degree, nose to nose. All day we chat and have enjoyable on Slack however there’s nonetheless a HUGE worth to taking a look at somebody and utilizing your vocal chords as a substitute of a keyboard. We instituted the random Watercooler Chats. these are a ten minute video name hangout. The foundations are:
1. Attendance is Optionally available
2. No work discuss allowed till after the official finish time.
3. Whoever scheduled is chargeable for selecting the subsequent host earlier than the decision ends. The host picks a random 10 minute slot and invitations everybody.
We like to choose non-standard begin occasions like 2:37 for the chats. Music is a big plus (a lot simpler to tug off on zoom). On a current meet Paul shared out a Google Jamboard(shared whiteboard) for everybody to doodle on. The top end result was a David Hasselhoff collage… no thought how we received there.. however it was epic.
Concept 6 – Non-Commonplace Slack Channels
We talked about the Digital Dance Social gathering however we do have another non-standard channels that enhance ethical and engagement. Listed below are a few of ours to offer you concepts on increasing your channels in your Slack.
- Random – precisely what it feels like. Random memes, photographs, and so on get posted right here and normally don’t have anything to do with work.
- Weekend Warrior – Submit your photographs or enjoyable stuff that goes on in your life while you’re not at work.
- Screaming – The foundations are you’ll be able to go on this channel and scream however you aren’t allowed to rant or give context. That is simply catharsis.
Concept 7 – Slack Bot
Do you know you’ll be able to have Slack pay attention for a key phrase in all of the chats and submit a pre-typed message to the identical channel it heard the phrase in? At FireFly this has by no means been utilized in a way that’s productive, just for leisure. It’s important to watch out although. As an example in case your CEO “alledgedly” makes the key phrase your Gross sales Supervisor’s first title… that will get mentioned much more usually than you notice. Having a Slackbot message pop-up each time Michael is talked about could be annoying and disruptive to important conversations.
The cool factor about this function is you’ll be able to enter a listing of random messages for Slackbot to submit. You would select the phrase “job full” and have slackbot select a random congrats message from a listing you offered anytime that phrase is typed in. So as to add your personal slackbot message go into Office Settings and discover Customise Your Workspace then choose the Slackbot tab. Have enjoyable! Right here’s a tutorial
In conclusion…
These are a number of the ways in which Firefly Group Occasions maintain the temper mild, the workers engaged, and morale up whereas planning superior digital and in individual staff constructing occasions. One among our core values is “Everyone Performs” and every of those concepts/instruments assist us reside that worth. You probably have inventive ways in which you employ slack or different instruments to remain engaged, please share with us we’d love to listen to from you. You’ll be able to e mail James at james@fireflyteamevents.com and nerd out.