Fun with families at work – 2020 Year in Review #14

In earlier posts during this Year In Review series, we had fun recalling memories of Zoom calls and also looking at creative ways of engaging remote workforce. In this post let us look at how we had fun with families at work on Zoom during 2020.

Fun with Families at work

People were working remotely from home for almost the entire year. Consequently, the dynamics between work and family changed drastically. The family members typically got more than a sneak peek into the office life of an average worker. In many cases the employees did not have the luxury to earmark a private space as their virtual office. The virtual lines between home and office got even more blurred in such cases.

Many of our team members probably fell into the latter category. There was a latent need to extend the employee engagement activities to their families as well. After all, everyone at home was also going through similar circumstances. Consequently, we decided to have fun with families at work.

The Idea

Now, the next step was to give shape to the idea. We visualized a virtual event with several tiny screens. Each of these screens would have several family members of the teams only spending more screen time. This imagery did not inspire confidence that the format would lead to an engaging event where we could have fun with families at work.

We thought harder and came up with better ideas. Why not create a virtual event that transforms all the houses of the employees into an extended playground? We remembered the last time that we had done a physical Treasure Hunt in office. The frenzied movement of people all across the office looking for their next treasure created unbelievable energy. The impressions of those scenes had remained etched in our memories.

So, the idea was born. We decided to create a virtual Treasure Hunt. A list of items that may be found in households with reasonable probability was drawn up. The lock-down was still in force, so there was no question of encouraging people to step out in pursuit of the hunt. So, the items had to be probable, but not certain. For instance, the list included coconut, that may not be found in all households, but likely to be found in at least some of them. This ensured that the design of the contest was exciting.

The Breakout Feature

However, there was a stumbling block. How would teams be created virtually? If every household would participate as one contestant, it would not lead to interaction between the team members. We needed the game to bind people together, and not to create more distances and competition.

That is when we had a breakthrough idea! We decided to create virtual teams and move the team members to ‘Breakout Rooms’ within the Zoom meeting. So, the game dynamics started falling into place. A blockbuster entertainer was in the making.

We constituted teams and assigned them to various breakout rooms. There were no more than 10 members in each team. These members were drawn from various departments, to create a microcosm of the organization.

Let the games begin

The basic game design was in place. But, it still had a problem. If we only had a single objective of finding the maximum items in the Treasure Hunt, it would lead to winners and losers. Not everyone enjoys that feeling because there are always more losers than winners. Isn’t it?

So, we added some fun, creativity and more prize-winning contests to the game play. For instance, teams were asked to name and brand their teams. They were also required to create slogans and war cries for their Treasure Hunt teams. We could then have multiple prize winners in each of the categories. We were already using Zoom for fun and work, so the popular vote on the Zoom poll decided the winners!

The Insights

The games commenced and since we had designed the game play well, things went as per plan. The optimal size of the teams ensured that there was healthy interaction between team members, without the discussions turning the game arena into a fish market. All this was planned and by design and we had great fun with families at work.

Keep Moving…

However, there was another significant positive outcome of the game design that only became apparent as the game unfolded. Since, people were locked within their homes, hardly any one was getting enough exercise. The game opened the floodgates of the pent up energy. There was a mad rush of people scurrying from one room to another, searching for the treasured items. As the organizer, I burnt a few calories vicariously, just by observing the bundles of energy and movement out there.

I normally like to say – Keep moving, momentum is everything! But, through this experience, I realized that momentum has an observer effect too!

Hub and Spoke

The other insight was related to the co-ordination among team members and their families. Even though it was not specified, some teams figured out the hub and spoke model better than the others. They had a central coordinator for their team that acted as a hub. In addition, each household acted like a spoke. But, even the spokes had one person (hub) continuously sitting in front of the screen. They were successfully guiding their family members to search for the required treasure and providing feedback to the central hub.

Everyone realized that whether it is work, running a household or hunting for treasures, life is a team sport!

Fun with families at work and more in the New Normal

The daily routines of team members and their families have changed in unbelievable ways over the past year. We created a game that involved family members and the entire households of our team. This was probably not conceivable in the Old Normal, and probably not required, to have fun with families at work.

However, work and family have become intricately mixed up across all households. As a result, some of the work-life balance and related dynamics have changed beyond recognition. It is only time that we adapt our thinking to align with the New Normal. We saw a light hearted fun activity in this post, but it underscores a very serious point. In fact, there are several observations and inferences that you can draw. In order to discover all of them, you will need to go out on your own Treasure Hunt!

Year In Review 2020

Check out the master article for the Year in Review 2020 that contains links to all posts in the series. Also, bookmark the master article on the browser to read all the 20 thoughts from 2020 and lessons for 2021.

About The Author

Rajiv Maheshwari is a business and start-up advisor, and the co-founder of From The Experts Mouth. He is a management professional with over 25 years of experience, and worked as CEO for a decade, and in leadership roles with NYSE listed companies such as Accenture and WNS.

He is a Chartered Accountant and MBA (Director’s Merit List from IIM Bangalore) and an autodidact, who is on the path of self-directed life long learning and sharing. He is a thought leader, author and keynote speaker and has developed several frameworks to bridge the gap between academia and industry.