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Employee Engagement Activities During Work From Home

    Employee Engagement Activities during Work From Home

    Employee Engagement Activities during Work From Home is no easy task to keep employees motivated throughout the year. A task that only gets harder amidst the covid-19 pandemic as work from home culture takes the front seat. It is no secret that people like to slack off when left alone with their thoughts under no supervision.

    But that cannot work in a professional scenario as businesses are in a more dire condition than ever before as the market once again takes a nosedive right into the ground.

    Yet the question prevails: What are some employee engagement activities during work from home that I can run within my own company?

    Well, look no further as we have curated a comprehensive list of some of those activities and how you can go about them down below.

    12 Employee Engagement Activities during Work From Home that works

    Home Tours

    We are all proud of the place we live in and we do often wonder where our colleagues go to snuggle up after a long day of work. Home tours are sure to quench the budding curiosity within your employees as well as give them a chance to show off their own homes. 

    Since professionals spend most part of their day sitting around at home attending video conferences from home to help them coordinate their work this task can work wonders. As it gives them a chance to walk around, stretch their legs, and flaunt their home paradise. 

    But the most important part of this particular employee engagement activity is to ensure that everyone participating is comfortable with showing off their home through video calls. As that will end up doing more harm than anything else if someone is uncomfortable with it. 

    Virtual Coffee Break

    Since everything has moved online, your employees are probably working, talking to friends, shopping, and spending most of their day in front of a digital device. Out of all these, work has the tendency to become the least interesting. One thing you can do to make work seem less menial to give your employees an opportunity to interact and talk about things other than work. 

    This keeps the work environment more lively. 

    We’re all used to taking breaks as we work, but if during those work breaks we can totally unwind and get into pyjamas and watch TV, it would be hard to get back into the rhythm of working. This makes the best workers unmotivated. But if employees can take their breaks together, this can keep them accountable and make them feel more present during their work hours. 

    If you have employees for remote locations, virtual coffee breaks are a great way to allow people from different regions and departments to get to know each other.

    Show-and-Tell

    Apart from the coffee breaks, you can collectively set aside some time for fun, ice-breaking activities. One of the more popular online games is show-and-tell.  Your employees can share their interests and show off unique items they are proud of. These games can be spiced up by adding a panel of judges and declaring a winner at the end who wins some extra benefits like extra vacation time. 

    One-on-one meetings

    These not only give the work environment a personal touch but also keeps your employees accountable. Sometimes, a meeting with several other people from different departments might make some people shy, but if they get the chance to speak to the manager one-on-one, they might feel more open and articulate their ideas better. Bridging communication gaps like this are important in maintaining a lively and dynamic office environment. 

    It is important to keep in mind that in a traditional office it is possible to simply walk into the office and communicate with someone individually. As our circumstances have made that harder for us, we too must adapt. 

    Freedom to Choose Schedules

    Your employees will definitely love this!

    However, this might be a big leap and comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, allowing employees to choose their own work hours might make them more productive as they can optimise their schedules and work when they are most alert and motivated. This means they will provide quality work and can be held accountable for not finishing on time.

    On the other hand, since there is no fixed schedule, it might be difficult to keep track of everyone, and coordination between employees might be delayed, causing the overall productivity to drop. It also means that there will be no common time when your entire team is working, and the team spirit might fade. If your employees work on their own schedules, its  great idea to ensure that every member attends a daily meeting where all team members are present and working together. 

    Offering Online Training Opportunities

    Since many employees might have some extra time on their hands, it might be beneficial to engage them in training opportunities. How about conducting a workshop for the entire sales team on selling online? Or a specialised Excel course for the accounting team? 

    This not only provides incentive to employees, but also improves your workforce skillset.  Your employees will really appreciate the opportunities. To make things even more interesting, you could decide to collectively learn how to paint!

    Fundraisers for home offices

    Considering how everyone is working from home, it is obvious that most people were not prepared to spend full workdays from home, and might not have invested in setting up an office space. You can conduct fundraisers and auctions to save some money so that employees might spice up their home offices a little. 

    If not decor, allocating funds to help your employees improve their home offices might help them if they do not currently have a stable internet connection or a compatible device. It is important, during this time, to help your employees the best you can. 

    Sign-off meetings

    As employees spend most of their day in front of a screen. It becomes difficult to distinguish between work and fun. Having daily sign-off meetings where employees can talk about their day and their work can be a great way to make sure everyone is on the same page. It can also be exciting as people talk about what they are going to do. This can be a safe space for giving suggestions and sharing opinions. Creating a daily ritual like sign-off meetings can be something for employees to look forward to. It brings in a dose of interaction. 

    Asking for feedback and suggestions

    Since communication is a little more difficult, it is important that as a manager, you ensure that things are in check. This means taking regular feedback and suggestions from everyone on the team. Using online platforms, this is relatively easy. All you have to do is create a google form. Or, this can be done using one-on-one meetings. Make sure to act on those suggestions!

    Playing multiplayer games

    As a team-building exercise, video games have been shown to dramatically increase bonding between any group. Multiplayer games are fun, engaging, and can be a great source of entertainment for everyone. Learning more about each other while playing and making inside jokes can create a great bond. Some fun games are Ludo, Among Us, Psych!, Minecraft, and Call of Duty. 

    Encourage Peer-to-Peer Feedback

    When employees have to give each other feedback, new opportunities for learning are opened up. People from different departments can give each other feedback and improve not just the working conditions but augment individual skillset. Encouraging employees to learn from each other, can help you create a network of employees. They will learn and improve themselves.  

    This is a great employee recognition tool and can make them feel appreciated for their hard work. This also means that everyone will have a better understanding of what others are doing and appreciate their contributions. The ‘water-cooler talks’ cannot be replaced, but we can try to recreate something similar!

    Gifting Extra Perks and Benefits

    Giving your employees some extra perks and benefits might awaken them out of a slump. Of course, everyone hates being comfortably packed in bed and receiving a text about work. But if this text was about some extra discounts on vacation days, it might cheer them up! This makes employees excited to come back to work and share their experiences. It is a good way to show them that you appreciate their persistence during these difficult times and that they are valued members of your team. 

    Conclusion

    If you read this post till the end, chances are you are worried that your employees are slacking off. If they are not enjoying the online medium of work. That is completely natural!

    Working from home sure is tough. Staying motivated, being at the same speed as everyone, and enjoying work can be difficult. With these fun Employee Engagement Activities during Work From Home to your online work environment, the online work culture will get fun and engaging. 

    Try these out as some great team building activities. If they don’t work, your team will at least now be engaged in giving feedback. And might even come up with ideas of their own!