Businesses have had to adjust to a new, digital work culture thanks to the affects of the coronavirus. Here in Chicago, we’ve been in a citywide lockdown since Saturday, March 21st. As a company, we’ve been working from home since Friday, March 13th and, like many others, have transitioned to daily video chats and other means of staying connected.
The daily work grind doesn’t stop, but in times like these where an exorbitant amount of time is spent looking at the same apartment, condo, or house walls, it’s important to mix in some fun along the way.
Yes, we’re on Zoom, too
There are two things true in the tech world right now: everybody has a podcast (hey, have you checked out ours?) and everybody uses Zoom for video chats. We’re no different and have moved what was previously a bi-weekly, in-person internal status to a weekly video chat with all our shining faces broadcast live from more comfortable work environments. Say hello to the lovely faces of GESM!
In addition to our full team calls, we have separate meetings for our digital staff and our experiential staff. The digital team connects daily at 9am and the experiential team does an end-of-week sync on Fridays. I can’t speak for the digital team, but in an attempt to fight off bouts of going stir crazy, Danielle has led the experiential team in fun and creative ways to keep things fairly lighthearted and entertaining.
Whether it’s coworker quizzes, best jokes, or Zoom Idol (my personal favorite), we’ve found exciting ways to kickstart our days. The $10 Venmo prize for lunch delivery (support local restaurants!) certainly help bring out the star in all of us.
Outside of Zoom and staying as well-connected as possible, some of us have found joy and entertainment in the #StayAtHomeChallenge, among other things. Puzzles, video games, walks, bike rides, cooking, Tiger King… the struggle is real, but if the cost of flattening the curve is creative ways to maintain sanity, then it’s a price worth paying.
Coping with the new reality, looking ahead
We’re an eclectic group at GESM, so I asked everyone from the team to provide some color around what they’re doing to pass the time or what they’re looking forward to most whenever the lockdown is over here in Chicago.
Categories: Just For Fun