Every office culture is obviously a bit different. My brother-in-law used to work for a tech company where they had a fully stocked kitchen and a keg-o-rater. Enjoying a cold beer at your desk was common practice. Not every company is that lax of course. My previous employer had a policy of firing anyone found to have consumed alcohol on company time. Perhaps those are the polarities, but I am sure your company likely falls between those extremes.
Remote-First: The New Norm
With companies making the pivot to distributed teams and remote-first work environments, we have no control over what is consumed in the “office”. I know my current crew loves sugar-free energy drinks on the clock and whiskey off the clock. Likely the nature of writers, living life's ups and downs. They are good people and know that Hemmingway is not a good example on how to live life in moderation.
Much has been written about enjoying drinks with employees outside of the work environment. Nearly everyone agrees that it is ok in moderation. We, as leaders, are the example. Enjoy a drink and your time responsibly so the saying goes. It is highly likely that your employees get together for social time without you as well. As humans, we tend to make friends with those we are in proximity to the most. With a distributed workforce, it all adds up to a lot of social time being missed. Our teams need the human interaction, just as we do! Throwing all this together, it begs the question, how can we help our employees stay connected on a personal level?
Elevating the Virtual Happy Hour
Our answers: elevating the virtual happy hour. I know that thought might throw HR into a panic. However, giving HR a say in how things are advertised will go a long way! We at TriviaHub want to bring people together AND encourage healthy behaviors. If you decide to go the route of a virtual happy hour, error on the side of caution. Perhaps, include a little blurb about the ramifications of misbehavior or intoxication. Again, our vision was for moderation, safety for all involved, and to create something memorable. It should be as easy as setting a time, put together an announcement (run it by HR), and get that Zoom call going. BUT…
How do we engage everyone? It was a restaurant or event center or someone's home there would be spaces to mingle, drinks to be mixed, snacks to be shared, and activities planned. You may have a team that only needs a Zoom link to ensure a good time. Likely the extroverts and big personalities dominate when you are all gathered into one room. We know the dynamics. Let's create something cool for our folks.
Four suggestions for making your virtual happy hour a hit:
1. Use breakout rooms. Switch them around periodically. Give them a topic to discuss and come back together. Whatever you do, get smaller groups of people talking.
2. Play a game. Have one person be the host for a board game!
3. Pick a TV show or Movie for everyone to watch before the event and have everyone talk about it.
4. Do a hosted Mixology event. Do you offer that? Of course, we do! Our experience hosts guide your team in making a cool classic mixed drink.
It's a great experience that you can couple with trivia and create that memorable happy hour.
It isn't easy to navigate a team in the virtual world. Hopefully, you get opportunities here and there to boost morale, create connection points, and lift your team. A virtual happy hour is a fun way for you to encourage your employees. Give it a shot and tell us about your experience!