New Year’s Resolution

It’s that time of year again, when everyone says goodbye to the year past and makes promises to change something for the better in the next. Typically these resolutions are to lose weight, exercise more, increase time with friends, decrease time with the TV, etc. Why not take a look at your work-at-home situation and see what may need some fresh perspective there as well?

When you work from home, you have some advantages over folks in the office, especially as it relates to change. Many things are within your direct control. So, take a step back and take a close look…

Consider changing your office around. Move the furniture. Change it to a different room. Do something to mix it up and break up what has become the “same old, same old”.

Repaint! Color psychologists believe that the colors in your environment can have profound impacts on your emotions and productivity. For example, green is considered a restful color for your eye. It may be good to have green walls to give your eyes a break from staring at your computer monitor. Green is also said to help you relax and unwind, which may help you if you are in a high-stress position. Blue is said to help lower blood pressure and slow heart rates. However, it can also be perceived as chilly. So if you typically get cold or don’t get much sunlight, consider another color or some warm accents.  If your office is in a tiny spot, consider painting it white to help it feel open and airy. Tread lightly around colors like red (too passionate), orange (appetite stimulant), and black (melancholy). It’s your room – paint it what works for you!

Sitting is the new cancer, so they say. Consider altering your office to allow you to stand, such as a higher desk or even a treadmill desk. A wireless headset may help you break free from the desk cord and stand or pace while working, even with your traditional desk. A balance ball could replace your chair and help you at least work on your posture and core while sitting. Bonus: When used for work purposes, many of these can be tax deductions!

Take a fresh look at your routine. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating a healthy lunch? Are you taking routine breaks? Are you getting your exercise time in? If not, adjust! Go to bed earlier, get up earlier, change your lunch time, or do whatever minor schedule changes it takes to work in those habits. Remember, you aren’t sitting in traffic coming or going to work. That’s bonus time you need to put to good use. Know your power hours, when you are most productive, and align your work time to those hours, reserving the remaining time for other activities.

Turn on your camera! If you are feeling disconnected, multi-task crazy, or maybe even just a little lazy, then make sure you are using your webcam. The camera will be an instant connection with your coworkers. It will also typically force you to be more accountable towards your participation and personal appearance. Not many people want to be on camera in their jammies. And it’s hard to fake engagement in the conversation when people can see you looking at your phone. So, if you can’t trust yourself, trust others to watch you!

These are just a few ideas to help stimulate the conversation. The key to making any change is you. You must see the need for a change, want to change, and put the change into action.

Don’t let work-from-home become so monotonous that you take it for granted. Keep pushing yourself to be better so that you can keep this awesome perk and show everyone just how valuable this option is. Look out 2017 – we’re coming for you!

Virtual Holiday Party

One of the things I hear when teams work from home is that they can’t have parties together and feel left out of the merriment, especially around the holidays. It’s hard to have everyone over to one house and share in the libations of the season and the comradery. Well sure, if you don’t have the budget to fly your team from around the country to one location then you won’t be physically together – but it doesn’t mean you can’t still have a good time!

Yesterday, I had the joy of hosting a virtual holiday party for our department. It was the first I’d conducted of this size and breadth, so honestly it was an experiment. I’ve been receiving great feedback from it, so I’ll deem it a success and share some of the activities here with you.

I’ll start by noting that this was a nondenominational, represent all areas as fairly as possible, yada yada yada event. Essentially – it was clear that it was not required, not discriminatory, and no reason to call HR. The event was 1.5 hrs, and everyone was invited to come if they could for as little or as much as their schedule permitted. Again, it’s optional, and don’t screw up your work priorities. So much red tape!

The most important aspect of ensuring success (besides people participating with jolly spirit) is utilizing a web collaboration tool with the right bells and whistles. In this case, we wanted audio and video, the ability to screen share, the ability to chat publicly and privately, and the ability to annotate/draw on presentations and whiteboards. Not asking for much, right?

To get everyone in the right mindset, we asked folks to dress in their favorite holiday garb, such as an “ugly sweater” or a reindeer ears, and be prepared to turn on their cameras (even if not dawning their flavorful apparel). I was wearing a silly shirt with a light-up holiday lights necklace and light-up bouncy Santa hat. We had others in Santa hats, a cute snowflake headband, reindeer headbands, and so on. And of course some that sported their everyday wear. Either way, it was great to see their faces. By using a collaboration tool that syncs audio and video, we were able to see whoever was talking as well as the others “in the room” and be together.

Our first activity was easy. I displayed a weather map for this coming Sunday and had folks use their annotation tools to share where they would be. This sparked conversation about who was traveling, and who was jealous of the Florida warmth versus the Wisconsin snow.

Our next activity was to decorate gingerbread houses. I shared an image of two houses, just their structure, and had folks use the various drawing tools to decorate at their will. So this may sound silly for adults. And you may be thinking about how you wouldn’t do it. All of these activities are only as fun as you elect to make them. This wasn’t fun because of the coloring. It was fun to tease people about the way it was done! We had a house with dots that someone said was chicken pox, and that opened a door for mockery. We had some good artists drawing trees and animals in the windows. We had a not-so-good artist attempting what was claimed to be a reindeer, but it really was just a Pandora’s box for entertainment.

Up next was “Name That Tune”. I asked folks to get a pen and piece of paper and write down their answers as I presented a lyric from a popular holidays song and they guessed the song title. The fun for me was trying to say the lyric in a non-sing-song way! The team was having fun talking about how little they knew or how embarrassing it was that they couldn’t recall. People were asking “Where’s the Led Zeppelin” and other comments sparking laughter while guessing. During the reveal, I actually sung the lyric (how embarrassing!) and most people immediately knew the answer. There was also plenty of debate over what could be deemed as an acceptable answer. The winner got bragging rights.

Activity Four was probably my favorite. We played “Pictionary”, or a rendition thereof. Using private IM, I would send a person the name of the popular holiday movie. On the collaboration whiteboard, they would then have to draw it and see if others could guess it. Let’s just say that some people should keep their day jobs! The guesses on some of the less artistic ones were truly hilarious and kept the conversions flowing.

The final activity was another pen and paper game. I showed images of the Top 10 Holiday Toys for 2016 (per CNN) and would see if people could guess them correctly. Of course, I started by showing some top toys from the 80’s and 90’s, which sparked nostalgic conversations. The reveal included the prices, so that became interesting fodder as well. We talked about each toy, and the team would explain it for those that weren’t familiar. Speak Out happened to be on the list, so then a team member demoed the game and we played a round or two. (If you haven’t seen it or played, check it out – it is a laugh!) That was probably the funniest moment of the entire event! I can’t even repeat the guesses!!

We had great participation and made every activity fun because we wanted it to be. The spirit and open-mind of each team member, along with the advanced preparations, were the keys to making this event so successful. I received feedback from the staff such as “I truly enjoyed yesterday’s party”, “Who knew {person A}, {person B}…et al were so much fun…!!”, and “Thanks for everyone that joined the Holiday party and made it so much fun. I now cannot stop singing Christmas songs!!! Feliz blah blah blah..." (inside joke from the event and my husband!)

It just goes to show that distance is no excuse for not gathering together to celebrate each other’s company and have a good time.

Happy Holidays