Why We Love Gaming Wednesdays: Inside Scoop with enParadigm’s Engineering Lead
Wednesday. For many, it’s the midpoint of the week- a marker that the weekend is just within reach. While Fridays often steal the spotlight, Wednesdays are special at enParadigm. Why, you ask?
Because of our Gaming Wednesdays.
Join me as I (Sanaa Mehra) talk to Sutharshan Ram, our Engineering Lead, to learn more about Gaming Wednesdays.
Sanaa: Hi Sutharshan, before diving into the enParadigm of it all, tell us about how you first got into gaming.
Sutharshan: Picture this. A young child organizing impromptu wrestling tournaments with the kids in an apartment complex. That young child was me. We all had a great time until someone told on us, and our parents found out!
After this experience, games have been a constant throughout my childhood. I first realized the power of gaming when I organized a symposium and gaming tournament in college. The turnout was incredible. People were queuing up to play the games we had arranged, so much so that it overshadowed the main event! That’s when I first saw how gaming brings people together.
When I joined corporate, I started working in a BPO, where I found myself surrounded by housemates learning 3D gaming and modeling. Their enthusiasm was contagious. Life has come full circle as I now work at a company dedicated to making corporate learning fun and exciting through gamification.
Sanaa: With gaming playing a significant role in both your personal and professional life, what aspect of it excites you the most?
Sutharhsan: I love how immersive it is. Time flies when you’re playing a captivating solo game. There’s also another type of joy in teamwork and healthy competition that’s present in multiplayer games.
Gaming also helps you grow personally. For instance, an engaging game can be an excellent tool for someone looking to improve their English. It combines learning with fun in a way traditional methods just can’t replicate.
Above all, gaming has changed how I think. It has fine-tuned my ability to approach problems strategically and instilled a mindset that every challenge has a solution. Years of gaming have taught me that technical hurdles are just that- hurdles to be overcome.
Sanaa: So, how did your love for gaming find its way to enParadigm? More importantly, why Gaming Wednesdays?
Sutharhsan: When COVID-19 hit, we needed something to motivate and provide a break from the work routine. Having played games for so long, I remembered the kinship it provided, even with people I had never met. I thought, why not try this with my team?
I decided to start small by focusing on our engineering team. I wanted the games to be hassle-free: easy to play, no installations required, and where everyone was engaged throughout, without long waits.
We set aside 1 hour in the evening on Wednesdays. We chose Wednesday for our gaming day as it’s the midpoint of the week when people usually have a bit more bandwidth, minimizing any disruption to their workflow.
Sanaa: That’s interesting! What do you see as the primary goal of Gaming Wednesdays?
Sutharhsan: Given the remote nature of our work, one of our main objectives was to create something that our team could genuinely look forward to each week. We wanted a place where everyone could come and discuss things other than work, and we wanted to help new joiners get to know the team better.
Another objective was to refresh the team. The way I look at it, all of our work comprises exciting projects and grunt work. When grunt work starts to cross 30–40% of total work, it can drain morale. Our team often crosses this 30% of grunt work. So, introducing Gaming Wednesdays was our way of breaking the monotony.
As the initiative grew, we realized that sticking to fast-paced shooting games mainly attracted engineers. We included a mix of Skribbl, Codenames, and Spyfall to make it more inclusive. We now see almost 50% attendance for every session across teams, including engineering, product, design, and QA. Now, each session is conducted by a different person, with them getting to choose the game everyone plays.
Sanaa: How has your team reacted to Gaming Wednesdays?
Sutharhsan: The reaction has been a game-changer, no pun intended. Before we started, there were occasional feelings of disconnect when working with other teams. For instance, engineering might feel left in the dark due to PRDs from product and so on.
Gaming Wednesdays helped break down those walls. Interacting in a fun, relaxed environment dispels the ‘them versus us’ mindset. We start seeing colleagues as real people instead of facilitators of work.
Gaming Wednesdays also helps people release pent-up emotions and stress. Funnily, as a manager, I am among the first to be ‘killed off.’ It helps everyone, including myself, to not take things too seriously.
Since we operate remotely, Gaming Wednesdays also replace the informal coffee breaks where we’d normally discuss random things. Even if someone feels uncomfortable initiating conversation, they always have something to do while playing a game.
Any parting thoughts for our readers?
Don’t take things too seriously. Much like a game, life is far more enjoyable when you experience it with others.
