Colleagues from across departments shared the ways they're staying connected to each other while working from home during the pandemic

Like many organizations both in Chicagoland and across the globe, Envoy Global employees have been working remotely since March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaboration and teamwork is part of our DNA, and while we can't be together in person right now, our colleagues are using technology and other tools to find creative ways to work and unwind together!

Seven ways Envoyers are staying connected during work from home

Carly Karmel, Account Executive

"Every week my team connects to share strategies, internal news and to simply check in on how we're all doing. We've always been a collaborative team, so outside of our weekly meetings, we often connect on our group chat thread in Microsoft Teams. We've had a few virtual team happy hours, as well as a larger happy hour with the entire sales floor."

Lexie Barnes, Senior Customer Experience Associate

"[My team] has been having happy hours every couple weeks where we get together, play Drawful and chat. This has been a really great way to connect and have some laughs outside of our work day. More recently, we started a WFH collaborative playlist on Spotify. It's packed with some of our favorite tracks and is a fun way to spice up our work day!"

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Taylor Moesle, HR Generalist

"We have had two team member's birthdays pass while working from home. It's definitely a difficult time to celebrate while being inside the house, but our team sent a little present and a gift card to get lunch for the day. Something so small means so much while not being able to see folks to celebrate."

Jim Yang, Senior Global Mobility Specialist

"We did a cook-off challenge in April where each member made their favorite recipe, cultural dish or regional specialty to showcase. Dishes included prosciutto pizza, Terry's chocolate orange cake, Texas pulled pork, banana bread, British roast and wontons in spicy chili oil."

Woody Salsinger, Director of Corporate Sales

"Our team has morning coffee and small talk every day, which is how we usually start our days when we're together in the office. There's no set agenda, just a brief 10-20 minutes where we share highlights from the weekend, what we're watching, ideas for keeping busy and more. We also have a Call of Duty tournament every Monday night where a handful of us play Call of Duty Warzone."

Kelly Lynch, Customer Relationship Manager

"Our team has done a lot of virtual workout classes together. It's fun to see a Zoom screen filled with Envoy coworkers, and it has helped me stay motivated to exercise at home. We've also had a few virtual happy hours to stay connected while working remotely. These mainly consist of pet updates!"

Erik Prado, Senior Content Marketing Associate

"The marketing team has a shared doc that tracks all the shows and movies we're watching, which usually fuels the conversation for our weekly "pop culture happy hour" virtual hangout. We also have a pandemic-themed playlist on Spotify with greatest hits from Whitney, Talking Heads and Queen."

Curious about how employers can support employees during periods of uncertainty? Check out our webinar with Envoy VP of HR Lindsay Dagiantis, available on-demand.

Originally published 10 June 2020

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