Dcoding HR: 4 Creative Ways to Engage Remote Employees

By Whitney Jones, Director of Operations

Last Thursday, while sitting at Dcode’s HQ, I posted on LinkedIn that Dcode was moving all of its programming and meetings virtual. Within 24 hours, we had not only come up with a plan to move all business operations virtual, but the entire office was sent home with everything from equipment to posters to office plants to work remotely until further notice. COVID-19 is forcing employers — many for the first time — to face reality: the show must go on, so what the $*%&^ do we do?

The #1 hurdle is keeping employees engaged while everyone works remotely.

Here’s what Dcode is doing:

1. We have a COVID-19 Response Plan available 24/7 to the entire team: we update the plan as needed, but at minimum it’s updated every Monday and Friday. The response plan includes everything from up-to-date healthcare info from our plan provider to resources on general wellness, like a list of 23 superfoods known to boost energy and a guide on “how to get sh*t done when you have kids around” (for those Dcoders who are parents). There’s also a link to museums offering free virtual tours, meditation videos, and I’ve even warned the team that I’m probably going to put my cat in front of Zoom so Dcoders can watch her nap (extremely relaxing).
2. In increasing our use of virtual tools, we’re also getting creative with the ways we use them to keep the team connected as well as productive. On Slack we started a dedicated channel for this time of social distancing to share pics of breakfasts, Spotify playlists, steps per day, and the pop-up workstations we’ve created. (If you live in a studio, you have to get crafty with your workspace!) On Zoom, we’ve created a “watercooler” line where teammates can join whenever to work remotely together. Don’t want to eat lunch alone? Watercooler. Want to take a break and just chat? Watercooler. We’re looking forward to a virtual team happy hour to keep spirits high.
3. Speaking of workspace, because many Dcoders are working with limited space (we live in DC, after all), we are offering the team the ability to order equipment, tools, and furniture to enhance their at-home workspace: desks, headphones, monitor stands, etc. we want to ensure the team is as comfortable as possible. Plus, Dcode covered ride-share costs for team members who had to move big stuff from the office to their homes. We’re also keeping things light and interactive with a bingo game for our meetings — check it out!
4. Most importantly, we are trying to keep everything as normal as possible. We still have our “Lunch & Learn” scheduled for this Friday. (This month’s topic: learning a new tool we’re implementing across the team.) We’d normally meet in a large conference room and eat lunch together while learning something new, but this Friday, we’re telling the team to order UberEats on Dcode, so they can still get their lunch delivered in order to keep things as routine and fun as possible. Plus, we are all keeping our cameras on for video meetings to help keep us connected.

In order to keep a team engaged while remote, you have to get creative. What are some cool ways your company is keeping employees engaged? Do you have any ideas Dcode should try? Send thoughts, comments, and questions my way at whitney.jones@dcode.co.

Whitney is the director of operations at Dcode. She oversees the human resources department including recruiting, hiring, internal policy, and employee engagement. When Whitney isn’t working on making Dcode “pop off,” she’s probably drinking wine, hanging out with her cat (Trilly Bean Jones), or both — because they aren’t mutually exclusive, after all (and now that she’s social-distancing she’s also taking suggestions on Netflix series she should start).