Like nearly every office in Ireland, our team packed our laptops in mid-March of 2020, and joked about seeing each other in five weeks. As it became increasingly apparent that this would not be the case, and conscious that two new members of staff had just joined, we all discussed ways we could still build relationships as a team, without being in person.
Teamwork isn’t just about getting the actual work done – building in time for fun and bonding is important, even outside of a world changing pandemic. This is an integral part of all the programmes we deliver – we emphasise to the social entrepreneurs we support how important it is to look after their mental health, build in rest periods and to take the time to relax. It’s no surprise that as a team we wanted to do the same … and even less a surprise that our first fun activity took the form of a quiz. Quite quickly, we dedicated an hour at the end of each Wednesday to enjoy each other’s company, away from deadlines and emails.
Each week one member of the team leads an activity. Over the past 20+ months we’ve had had plenty of quizzes, practiced yoga, played multiple games of Werewolf, had mini lectures on wine and Genghis Khan, and even took some painting classes.
It has not been easy, or simple, to work from home. Whilst it has allowed some staff to reconnect with nature, many of us are working from our kitchen tables. We know that it is much easier to silo information in smaller teams, and things to fall between the cracks. To try and combat this, our full team have a weekly meeting, and more casual 1:1 coffee calls on Tuesday mornings. We also have discussed openly the need to always assume good intentions, to ask for help and to offer it, and that this situation can make communication harder. We also have full quarterly meetings, where we celebrate the wins and set out the main goals for the next three months.
Our company values are to be authentic, visionary and impact driven – and taking the embed those values, and enjoy each other’s company makes us all the better We know that with the right people alongside you, everything is possible.
