A Love Letter to My Teammates
When my boss’ name popped up on my caller ID at 8:30 p.m. last week, I knew what was coming. That distant idea of a “fully remote office” was here. It was time. And sure enough, it was. The next day would be our last day in the office for a few weeks as we all worked from home to stay safe and healthy as a global health crisis began to swirl around us.
I was proud of Upside and our leadership team for taking proactive steps and leading the way. We were going to be part of the solution. But I was sad and scared, too. You see, that’s the thing that’s different about Upside. We’re a TEAM and a team that thrives and shines brightest together. How would we keep that togetherness while we all worked alone in our living rooms?
All week I’d seen memes splashed over Instagram and Facebook from friends who couldn’t wait to have a little time away from this coworker or that teammate; but the mood at Upside could not have been more different. My own little crew decided a sit down lunch was in order for our last day together and as we walked down the city street in front of our building, I noticed many other little groups of Upside lunch crews chatting and laughing with a wistful look in their eyes. That evening, instead of rushing home, we gathered in our office courtyard for happy hour. We chatted about packed grocery stores and beefing up our athleisure wardrobes. It was light and fun, but I still felt a little melancholy and I knew I wasn’t the only one. I really, really LIKE these people. I’d miss them.
As I walked around the office at the end of the evening lowering blinds, throwing away old milk and unplugging Apple TVs, I was hit with an unexpected feeling of hope. Many of my colleagues had already pitched in and watered plants, packed up our snack stashes, and tackled that pantry fridge full of questionable leftovers. In that moment I knew — we’d get through this together.
What happened next was actually pretty great. Our team came together in ways big and small to make sure we all stayed connected, happy, healthy, and moving forward. We created new Slack channels, invites for virtual coffee dates flew onto calendars, we made plans to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day together, daily team stand ups began to include home tours and we started to brainstorm how we could help others who might not be so lucky. There are moments during the day when I miss my team so much it aches, but there are even more moments that all I feel is strong solidarity and comfort — that irreplaceable feeling of being a part of something really special.
This week, I’ve interacted with people who I might not usually talk to through the course of a normal day in the office. I’ve gotten home workout ideas from our Security Engineer, I’ve “had coffee” with my regular partner in crime, I’ve watched my boss cartwheel across my computer screen (literally), and I know what our CEO and his family ate for lunch yesterday. There’s an interesting degree of bonding and togetherness that has come out of a decided un-togetherness that has been all at once touching, bolstering, hopeful and, yes, sometimes, heart wrenching. It has made my pride in this team grow exponentially overnight.
So what to do if you find your team searching for ways to stay connected during this time? Here are some ideas that our Upside team has been loving:
- Utilize Slack to its fullest: Slack makes it easy to keep in touch over chat, but did you know you can give people a quick video call through Slack? Drop in on your colleagues to say hi — just like you might drop by their desk to catch up.
- Create new special interest Slack channels and threads: Our team quickly spun up a few new channels that are providing information, levity and ideas throughout the day. Some we’re loving: #watercooler (a little bit of everything), #cooking (recipe ideas and what’s cooking in our kitchens), #petside (our pets seem to be loving all the extra time with their human Upsiders), #futureupsiders (kids and babies galore!), #coffeetalk (fire up your zoom and have a virtual coffee date) Workout of the Day threads, What I Ate for Lunch threads, Netflix binge threads, etc.
- Increase your team communications: We’ve implemented several new all Upside communications — a daily message from our CEO, a collection of moments of gratitude from our colleagues, a weekly recap newsletter — to help our team stay informed and connected.
- Take your meetings virtual: It’s easy to send a quick email or slack message, but if it’s a conversation you’d normally have in person — turn on your team’s video conferencing tool and have a chat.
- Make some time for fun: We might not be physically together right now, but we haven’t stopped our fun events! Our Culture Crew hosted a virtual St. Patrick’s Day happy hour complete with a trivia game and a dedicated “parents’ room.” Soon, we’ll host contests, game nights and sing-alongs. Most of the events your team normally enjoys together can be made virtual with just a little creativity.
- Encourage one another: This is a weird time for all of us. So send those compliments and notes of encouragement. Anytime you think “wow, that was great of Laura,” tell Laura how great it was. It will go a long way.
We want to know — what has your team been doing to stay connected?
