Like many others, the IP team have been working at home for most of the year. That’s why we’ve been focussing on ‘reconnecting’ as a top priority for Q1 and 2, FY21. From Strawberry Sundaes in the Brisbane head office, to digital trivia and pictionary at the end of a hard work day, our HR Advisor Tina Melbourne and Office Manager Aleksandra Kotkowski have been busy thinking of creative ways to keep us connected.
To encourage catch ups across siloed teams who don’t work together every day, we held a ‘reconnect’ activity over August and September. Each IP member was encouraged to reach out to a coworker they either don’t know very well, or haven’t spent much time with lately. We each had to make a virtual catch up and find out from the other person:
- Any of their new isolation habits
- Their favourite isolation meal
- The view from their desk at home
This was a great exercise to reach out to people in other parts of the business, with developers talking to marketers and architects to chief officers and so on. Our online pictionary also had teams from all areas of the business working together to draw some truly awful pictures and make some truly hilarious memories.
Working around new virus outbreaks, adapting to digital catch ups, and avoiding critical skill crossovers have been the main challenges, but Tina Melbourne says the response to the reconnect activities has been overwhelmingly positive, helping to forge stronger relationships at a time where everyone is feeling a little apart.
We are looking forward to reconnecting in the office eventually as restrictions ease across our three locations, but appreciate these many opportunities in the meantime to socialise and keep everyone safe.
