Having fun in the home office

Having Fun in Home Office Times
We’re already at our second week of Home Office in the COVID-19 quarantine. It is time for me to reflect and make a short interim evaluation.
As the person responsible for People Ops in VSHN, it is my natural concern to ensure that all VSHNeers stay motivated in these times, that we keep in touch with each other, and that nobody feels alone.
And since we always wanted to enable work flexibility, so that anyone could work from anywhere in the world, the rollout of Home Office happened fast and without complications. Each one of us has their company laptop, and many of us had enjoyed working from home, way before the coronavirus crisis. Therefore we could find ways to motivate each other, and we could ask each other for guidance; for example, whether it is really necessary to wear trousers (apparently yes) and whether it is normal to have really unproductive days (yes, it is. Don’t put yourself under too much pressure.) The team could find answers to all of these questions without any trouble.
But how can we keep the team together if we can only see each other through a webcam?
Have regular remote meetings
After a short while we came up with the “Z’noomi” (a pun between “Zoom” and “Znüni”), a daily videocall meeting every morning and every afternoon, where we just hang out with a cup of coffee and talk to everyone.
The idea of a “remote beer” every Friday afternoon also caught up quite quickly with the team. Rumour has it, that even part-time employees not working on Fridays participate in it!
Take the time to know each other better
During our Z’noomis we can meet the pets of our colleagues (particularly when they walk on the keyboards) or enjoy a small tour of their homes! Hobbies provide yet another possibility to learn each other better. This is why we watched a presentation of the renovation of the home of one of our colleagues, or became “beta listeners” to freshly recorded tunes from the guitar of another VSHNeer.
Play with one another!
The classic “LAN-Parties” aren’t new, but who has tried playing Dungeons and Dragons remotely? VSHN has!
Another game that started this week: show your gardening skills. Each VSHNeer will receive (or has already received) a small package with a starter kit inside (earth, seeds, and pot) to brew their own beer, and prove themselves that they are up to the situation, and can grow something out of these seeds. Which plant will appear first? Which will be the biggest, strongest, or more beautiful? To be honest, we VSHNeers are not well known for our gardening skills, but this exercise will surely teach us about it (well, as long as the Post is able to deliver all packages…)

And if your french isn’t that strong, no worries, we have Google translate for that! 😂

Small gifts keep friendships alive
Whether you ask somebody how they are doing in an unscheduled videocall, or pat them virtually on the back, or make sure that a change worked out well and that a customer has been successfully served, or praise their haircut (even if no hairdressers are available): show your gratitude! Praise is balsam for the soul.
What do you do to keep contacts alive? We’d be glad to hear about any ideas you might have, so that we can keep the fun in our home offices in the upcoming weeks. 😊
Stay healthy!
Your VSHNeers