Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2022 - 44

5 Ways to Keep Your Watercooler
Conversations Alive in a Hybrid Workplace
Choose your
mediums wisely.
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Create novelty
and play.
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expected it to be a success. While wellintentioned,
for nearly two-thirds of the
workforce, these chats seem more like
a chore than a genuine connection. If
environment shapes our behavior, and
our behavior shapes our culture, how
can we show up differently to create
these small instances of connection?
Here are five tips to help create your
virtual watercooler.
1
CHOOSE YOUR MEDIUMS
You will need more than just one medium
to connect people no matter where
they are. This might be through video
collaboration platforms, but it also needs
to be supplemented with something
text-based and asynchronous. This may
be channels in your favorite platform.
The key is to have easy-to-use channels
that are fun to engage with.
If you want to easily gauge the mood
of the team, have a channel where
everyone posts the emoji that best
represents them today; if you want
to build depth of connection, you
might have a channel with a different
question each week such as " What
smell brings back fond childhood
memories? " ; if your team consists
| 44
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Deliberately build
in connection time
and activities.
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Strategically
connect across
departments.
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2
BUILD IN CONNECTION
When we meet in person, there are
always side conversations as you
enter the room. When we log in to
Develop written
skills that convey
your humanness.
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of parents or animal lovers, you
might have a channel for them to
post photos of their " co-workers. "
Your mediums will depend on your
organization, as well as what you are
trying to achieve. These mediums
need active management, especially
in times of pressure, which is when
people need the social moments
most, but are inclined to disengage.
We often test our riskiest and more
novel ideas at the watercooler, so
make sure you have a place this can
be done. It might be that you have
a #MoonshotMonday where team
members rotate turns at posting a big
idea they want to test, and the rest
of the team respond during the week
with builds and challenges. Use your
tools wisely - if you have employees
in similar time zones or working
rhythms, can you schedule time at
the beginning or the end of day when
the " do not disturb " function is off,
and people are free to chat?
a video call, we usually have our
cameras off, continuing to deal with
emails until the host joins, or worse,
we stay in the waiting room until the
host admits us. Once in the meeting,
gazing at everyone, it feels awkward
to attempt small talk. If you're a host
leaving people in the waiting room,
consider putting up a question, quote
or some other provocation for your
team to consider while they wait.
When you admit them, you can use a
word cloud or the chat function to get
their responses. Better yet, create a
virtual watercooler by adding people
to breakout rooms while others are
entering the space, letting them know
the purpose is to connect before we
start the business of the day. Even five
minutes of small chat away from the
main room can be beneficial.
For those on-site, you can buddy them
with off-site team members to have a
10-minute end of the day conversation.
As the person in the office is packing
up, they can simply do a quick phone
call on their way out, catching your
remote worker up on what's been
discussed in the office. If you have
team members who rotate days in and
out of the office, this can be a great
way to keep everyone involved.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/great-expectations-making-hybrid-work-work https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/great-expectations-making-hybrid-work-work
Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2022

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