Hello! We at Serein Inc have being doing alot of fun activities with groups of all sizes during this pandemic. Murder mysteries,Treasure Hunts (themed), Pop Quiz, Mafia all done virtually. We've received excellent feedback and even once had employees ask (well beg!) their HR if we could run activities for them every week! You write to us hello@serein.in
Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
231–240 of 273 posts
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 t…
> Allow people to make suggestions and go with the ones that... You talk like they would do suggestions... They are totally passive, and they position themselves as passive, expecting me to come up with the ideas and directions for the software and even for where to position the desks or... everything. They’re just doing as I say. It is possible to blame it on me for not “leaving them enough room”, but when I leave a…
From this and a couple other of yours posts in this thread, it sounds like you are completely oblivious to possibility that YOU might be the problem. You are the leader of these people at work.
I really don't mean to be rude here. Strangely I've had a boss that had a similar beef with our 5 person team years ago.
Boss always harped that nobody takes ownership but lacked enough self-awareness to realize Boss exhibited extreme overly controlling behavior. From which snacks we had (or didn't) to which color markers we should use in a whiteboard brainstorming session. And don't forget to wipe the sink down in the bathroom after your wash your hands. Things that really didn't matter in terms of whether the business was successful or not. Nobody took ownership of the products or features without being force assigned. They were all too afraid. And too afraid to let Boss know that.
Have you tried telling any of them _directly_ that you want one of them to take ownership of a _specific_ project?
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#233This https://meet.airconsole.com/
or if someone has a copy of Jackbox Party Pack that's also another game that's fun and easily streamable, without costing a lot of money as you only need one license to play as a group.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#234For any trivia fans out there, I'd recommend giving https://www.watercoolertrivia.com/ a shot - makes running team trivia super easy
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#235An Oculus Quest 2 costs 300 + tax -- extremely memorable way to have an event in these times. And acts as a collaboration device and an amazing gift going forward.
Reading through all the comments here, I was meh towards most, but yours was the only one I wowed at. Sure, people like different things, but a device (gift) and then spending time together (co-op games etc) is an awesome idea
This is a very cool idea, although it's worth noting that it won't work for some people. Many people get motion sick from VR - I'm not sure of the percentages but I've heard it from several acquaintances.
Edit: Also some people don't have a Facebook account; that seems more common among HN's demographic.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#236Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#237Everybody gets sent a lego set and (for those who can) a drink, and you spend a couple of hours building and talking.
That's a creative idea. I'm writing it down! Where I work the Xmas party was obviously cancelled because of Covid so I was expecting an online event paid-for or gift vouchers, but they said that in the end we got zilch and they decided to give away the budget to charity because "that felt like the right thing to do"... Well, for moral and engagement no it wasn't...
We had an online event with takeout meals paid for, you had to choose from about four local restaurants and pick it up day of.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#238Two related good options we have tried were playing https://www.geoguessr.com and https://virtualvacation.us/guess. It seems like the team I'm currently working with is fond of geography/travelling so these games made for a fun period. Highly recommended!
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#239Give everyone $100 and tell them to take a half day at work.
Underrated comment.
Personally Zoom "socializing" doesn't work for me. I'd rather stick a needle in my eye than sit around and watch my co-workers pretend to have fun. We do a weekly hangout and occasionally meetings will devolve into social time but group video chats feel like meetings, not fun.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#240> Can y'all share any team fun event ideas that have worked well Sure. Give everybody a raise and quit forcing stupid "team" shit.
Money is great but when WFH more human interaction really is needed. Especially for those that are younger without a family.
Human interaction isn't something work should be responsible for providing. It was an incidental benefit of being in the workplace, not an employer-provided perk. Maybe if work paid time and a half to attend, but in the meantime I won't sign onto a zoom chat unless it's mandatory for doing my job.