24.
Best Benefits: Soda, Coffee, Field Trips, and Volunteerism
When people hear we’ve worked in both stationary and virtual workplaces, they always ask us which is better. And we always say it depends on the employee, the organization, and the topic at hand. And even then, it’s usually still split down the middle. As you’ve seen, it’s rarely about which is “better” and more about how things are tackled.
If you catch us on the right day, we’ll quietly admit that one wins over the other on certain topics. This chapter represents one. Like it or not, when it comes to things organizations offer—like free snacks and drinks; various working, napping, or gaming setups; or even field trips and group volunteer events—stationary has it on lock. But that’s changing.
Let’s Level Set, Shall We?
One of the exciting things about a writing a book like this is that we get to take every topic you can think of and apply it to the virtual world. Some topics were boring, like chapter 11’s “How do you best handle virtual performance reviews?” and others were juicier, like chapter 28’s “How do you deal with interoffice virtual romance?” But this also gave us license to consider bigger-picture topics that, at first glance, seem completely unrealistic in the virtual setting. Can you virtually replicate free snacks and drinks? Is there such a thing as offering video games, ball pits, and napping pods in a virtual workplace? How do you create employee engagement efforts like group volunteerism or field trips?
Well, we love a challenge, so we’re devoting this chapter to those of you who think bigger, act bolder, and know that with the right budget and a little creativity, nothing is impossible.
Fair warning: Some of these you could advocate for or tackle as a manager, while others will require a higher power. But we thought we’d start somewhere!
Free Snacks and Drinks
We admit that stocking one or more virtual employees with free water, coffee, tea, soda, or beer and snacks is extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible. One or more stationary workplaces, sure, but individual people? No chance. But we’d also argue that you’re thinking far too literally. Here are some solutions:
• Create a drink and snack stipend. You don’t have to worry about what everyone, anyone might want to eat or drink if you aren’t responsible for the details. Offer all employees a set amount of money per paycheck or a reimbursable option for snacks. Or maybe you’ve got a company portal they can use to buy snacks and drinks online while they’re working at their own home or from a virtual office. Let them decide if they want fancy bottled water or locally produced sour apple kombucha. Just make it available for them to make their own choices.
• Send digital coupons or gift cards. Once a month or during the holidays, send your virtual employees a gift card they can use to buy drinks and snacks.
• Literally send them snacks and drinks. Send a small supply of snacks and drinks to their doorstep every week or month. It’s not as flexible as the first option, but just about everyone would benefit from the gift. It’s like the ultimate subscription box!
Video Games, Creative Workstations, and Napping Pods
All the fancy start-ups offer them—fun rooms filled with toys and nostalgia, places to nap, and standing or treadmill desks in forest-like, Astroturf-laden or hyper-modern, rock concert atmospheres. How on earth can your virtual office compete with that? Here’s how:
• Offer personal budgets for office and atmospheric enhancements. Does your employee want a ball chair? Hoping for a standing desk? Give everyone an office enhancement budget with pre-identified or approved lists of items they can order.
• Video games live online too, you know. You don’t need to send each employee a woodgrain 1982 Ms. PacMan game console. Instead host online games! There are endless solo and group games online you could offer through a portal on your company intranet. That way folks can game at their leisure without worrying how they’re going to fit an air hockey table in their dining room.
• Who needs a pod? They have beds in their homes. If you were going to offer napping pods or free chair massages in a stationary office, you can easily allow employees to schedule 30 minutes a week for a nap or massage. And bonus, you don’t even need to offer payment for these things, just allow the time to enjoy the treatment or, better yet, sleepment (we had to).
Group Volunteerism
Giving people PTO for volunteerism is quickly becoming a new norm in any work setting. Virtual is no different. But if you’re trying to recreate some form of group experience, that can be trickier.
Fortunately, volunteering is becoming increasingly virtual. Many national and global organizations offer individual and group online volunteer opportunities. Here are just a few to consider looking into:
• Missing Maps Project. Virtual groups help provide land-mapping tools, where volunteers work in teams to review satellite topographical maps and create open street maps for vulnerable communities.
• Thank you banks. Virtual groups help nonprofits thank donors and other volunteers through phone and email banks.
• Mass research and admin projects. Virtual groups help nonprofits and charities with large-scale research, analysis, data, and database projects and maintenance.
Field Trips
In many ways the virtual world has helped shrink what was once a very large physical world. Popular games like Pokémon Go, for example, can be played outdoors in groups. Here are some other ideas to consider:
• Discover Discovery. Discovery Education is a great online resource that allows “students” to go beyond the classroom into virtual groups to explore uncharted and well-known areas of the planet without leaving their desktop.
• Visit your art or area museum, together. Have your employees head to their favorite local museum (or park or wetland or mall) and lead 10-minute tours on camera of their favorite parts of the place.
I was planning a meeting one year that would take place in Dublin, Ireland. I had completed my site visits and chosen the venue, and everything was pretty well set. Just days before I left for the meeting, the venue event manager emailed me that she wanted to show me another idea about how to set up our main meeting space. We decided the easiest thing to do was jump on a video call. Once connected, she walked me through the venue showing a couple ways she had set up other spaces. Then she took me into the main room, where the event staff had set up half the room in one style and the other half in the other style, so I could get a good visual and make a final decision. This was such a clever way to quickly understand what she was talking about and come to a speedy decision. It was also so nice to be able to take a little field trip to Ireland in the middle of my day.
—Kathy
A Few More Thoughts
Think outside the box. Here are a couple more ideas from well-known companies that you can ponder for your team:
• Shut down the company (with pay) for the week between Christmas and New Year.
• Offer employees a fixed amount of money each year to donate to the charity of their choice.
• Provide subscriptions to audiobook services or electronic readers as well as a book a month so your staff can continue learning and growing.
• Offer unpaid monthlong sabbaticals employees can use for any reason.
• Offer three- to six-month sabbaticals paid out at 40 percent of the employee’s salary, which they can use to pursue personal or professional growth opportunities.
• Provide the option for pet health insurance—we all want our furry friends, who we’re with almost all the time when we’re working from home, to be in top-notch health.
Offer wellness stipends, gym memberships, or fitness trackers to your staff—then hold internal competitions to build health and rapport!
Signing Off
There is a method of critical thinking called the HMW Question Method that we love. HMW stands for “How might we …” thoughtfully unravel problems or given situations. As a manager or leader of your organization, use this method every time you see a stationary workplace perk or benefit that you think is cool, but seems impossible to replicate in the virtual world. In some cases, it might be. Like an office ball pit. Although even if it’s possible, it may not be worth attempting—like an office ball pit.
And remember, lot of these perks are really gravy on the virtual workplace heap of mashed potatoes. What beats being able to wear pajamas in your home office with your own pets just steps away from your own bed? Not much. So the virtual workplace has some pretty darn good perks that are hard to replicate in the stationary world.
When you do see a perk that’s worth converting for the digital world, try it out. And then let us know how it went. We’d love to feature yours in a future edition of the book or online!