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Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

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Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

#141

Post by fuzzer37 »

zucked wrote: post #59
noarchy wrote: post #38

Related note: do it during work hours, if possible. Not all of us want to be expected to take an evening to devote to work events. Even if I genuinely like my co-workers, there are times that I want to set aside where I don't have to think about work.

Work "fun" events that happen outside of work hours are totally bogus.

If they're organized by the company, I totally agree. We have (had) a group who voluntarily organized and went out to a local bar after work on Fridays. Everyone was welcome, and no one felt pressured to go or not go.

Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

#142

Post by stevezsa8 »

laurent92 wrote: post #108
noarchy wrote: post #38

Related note: do it during work hours, if possible. Not all of us want to be expected to take an evening to devote to work events. Even if I genuinely like my co-workers, there are times that I want to set aside where I don't have to think about work.

I used to offer via ferratas or paragliding on worktime, but then the employees would leave at 5 (none of them have children) and no-one stayed for beers. If you do that, then at least be good at go-kart, you’re paid for it. At least it clarified the situation: They don’t expect work to be fun. I stopped organizing events. If you want work to be boring, then this is how to make work boring. It makes me a bit sad. But…

You sound like you're trying, which is good. As the other poster said, maybe don't expect so much.

For example, I'm a total wimp. I forced myself to do go-karting because the big macho guys wanted to do it. I hated it, it was loud smelly and scary. I was sore for days.

Maybe allow different people to make suggestions and go with ones that are out of your comfort zone instead of expected your colleagues to do things that might not appeal.

Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

#144

Post by Jorslu »

Our team plays https://skribbl.io/ weekly during our "Coffee Break Hour"

It's a fun way to interact, laugh, and find out who says they can't draw but can actually draw. We play with about 8 people, sometimes others join in to just watch or we take turns. Honestly, skribbl has been the closest thing to in-person interactions we have had in a long time. I created the weekly 1-hour coffee break meeting on our calendars @ 3pm local time. Usually water-cooler talk, sometimes video games for the laughs.

Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

#145

Post by Delge »

djgraffiti wrote: post #105
Siyfion wrote: post #30

We had a real DJ come and start off each day in spectacular fashion over video link recently. The team LOVED it, he took requests and it got everyone awake and excited for the day ahead. Plus, it drove a great team discussion on our musical tastes! (We had https://djgraffiti.com/ - Can't recommend him enough!)

Thanks so much for the shout out. Happy to bring you all closer as a team. If you can make it by early to the set tomorrow I'll have Paradise Circus cued up for you!

Nice to see fans here.

Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

#147

Post by aicarlson »

brundolf wrote: post #138

I think it's hard to have meaningful interactions over video chat among groups with more than, say, four people. Inevitably one or two parties do all the talking at a given moment, and everyone else just listens Something we've started doing at my company is monday-morning "random coffee". Everyone gets paired off to video chat with a random person for 20 minutes at the start of the day. It's been a great way to have…

The meaningful interaction cap is at around 4 – even for in person gatherings! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S10905...

Shameless plug, I've been working on solving exactly this problem with Mixaba! Everyone automatically breaks into small groups of 2-4 every few minutes.

Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

#148

Post by Buttons840 »

aicarlson wrote: post #147
brundolf wrote: post #138

I think it's hard to have meaningful interactions over video chat among groups with more than, say, four people. Inevitably one or two parties do all the talking at a given moment, and everyone else just listens Something we've started doing at my company is monday-morning "random coffee". Everyone gets paired off to video chat with a random person for 20 minutes at the start of the day. It's been a great way to have…

The meaningful interaction cap is at around 4 – even for in person gatherings! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S10905... Shameless plug, I've been working on solving exactly this problem with Mixaba! Everyone automatically breaks into small groups of 2-4 every few minutes.

Tell me more about Mixaba. I've had the same idea. Rather than brain storming in a large group, break into smaller groups and then mix up the groups periodically. My guess is this would lead to faster group consensus and result in fewer people feeling left out or that they hadn't been heard.

Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?

#150

Post by Buttons840 »

joshschreuder wrote: post #94

I’ve done a few Jackbox Party Pack games sessions over last year’s lockdown, they are good fun and there’s normally at least one game per pack that everyone can be good at, without necessarily being the funniest or most creative. It works quite well over screen share due to being time based rounds with not a huge reliance on reaction times / audio https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackbox_Party_Pack

Jackbox seems alone in this niche, and their style is a bit crude for some. I think some of my family or co-workers would be offended by some of their games.
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