Hello from Week 7 or 8 (or whatever it is by the time you read this) of lock down!
How's your mojo going? Remember last year, moving to a remote working environment??
Back then, working from home seemed like a beautiful oasis in the desert.
Alluring and shimmery and everything we ever wanted. It represented freedom, some would say salvation from the grind, and at the time, it appeared to be everything we've ever wanted. For a 9 to 5-er, it was the pinnacle of flexibility.
Like winning a gold medal in the work/life balance Olympics .
That is until, this year.
All of a sudden, the shimmery goodness of a WFH gig has started to dull. Sure, you work from home, but you also now live at work.
Not quite so shiny anymore
With (currently) no end in sight to the lock-downs, employers are looking for ways to help their team stay sane, happy and feeling appreciated. Bosses are looking for a way to lift spirits, and keep the team vibe alive.
So, if you are looking for some inspiration to send some love to your team, check out some of these ideas:
Next step is, well, cocktails. Good news, #happyhourfromhome is now a thing. If you love cocktails, but not all the mess that goes with making them, you may want to invest in the Drinkworks Home Bar by Keurig system.
This nifty system does all the hard work, using pods that already have everything you need to make a professional cocktail, using the machine. The cocktails are all ready to go in Pods—mixers, booze, and all—and after loading one in, you just press a button and you’ve got yourself a cocktail. Kind of like a Nespresso machine, but for cocktails.
Love this idea
Another great idea, according to Concrete Playground, is to order your happy hour from home cocktails from your local bar or restaurant. With so many of them now offering amazing cocktails for takeaway and delivery, this idea is such a win/win. Supporting your local restaurants and bars, AND getting a professionally mixed cocktail - something like this is cool and fun idea, that the whole team can jump in on and enjoy. And just to make it even better? How about starting happy hour at 4pm on a Friday, and get the weekend started earlier .
This is such an easy way of showing your team that you're thinking of them, and making them feel appreciated and important to you and the business in general. I wanted to share a little something that we did at Cleancorp. When our National Sales Manager, Sally Hunt, smashed all her targets out of the park, we wanted to do something special, not just for Sally, but for her entire family. We knew Sally wanted a dog for her family, so while she was planning a surprise for her family, we were planning this furry, four-legged surprise for her!
Check out the video below
Of course, there are so many other gifts you can send to show you care, and here are just a few that we absolutely love!
The other a-m-a-z-i-n-g thing about them that we love is their Zero waste promise.
They pay it forward by donating all unsold flower posies to local aged care homes and hospices. So, no wasted flowers, and making someone else's day #lovethis
Or what about a small gift for home? Here
Once you’ve got the bottle, you’ll never need another one (except for the other bathroom!) because their glass bottles are made to use and reuse. Just keep topping up with the squishalishious pod refills. On top of this it’s all wrapped up with recycled cardboard printed with plant based ink. It doesn’t get much snazzier than that, and your team will love seeing them in their homes, and will never need to buy plastic hand soap bottles again!
Think things like ordering an Uber lunch for the team, and then enjoying a meal together online, or if your team enjoy working out, arrange for a fitness instructor to run an online class - little gestures like this tell your team “We’re thinking of you; we appreciate your value.”
The very clever Vibe Team at Canva knew that their teams were working hard at home, but also working hard to do the #homeschooling, so what did they come up with?
Awesome activity packs for the kids to make lockdown a little easier. Super thoughtful idea, and judging by the smile on Miss Z's face over here
It definitely looks like the Canva experience team #nailedit .
So whether it's something for you, the kids and family, a fun activity to do online as a group, or, as in our case, a puppy, how you choose to lift employee morale during lock down is a personal choice, that will make a great impact on your hardworking team.
We're curious. What have you done for your team during lockdown that they have absolutely LOVED? Share it in the comments below