Using what we have on hand is second nature at Final. When the pandemic hit and the world changed, we had to make some abrupt cuts to our “Werk Perks” program. There has never been a more important time however, to focus on wellness, work-life balance, and taking care of one another. We tapped into the tried and true and even found a few new ways to continue to cultivate strong company culture with a $0 budget.
Squad Updates – Early on we began publishing a weekly newsletter with highlights gleaned from internal communications, fun customer comments, and of course, photos of our pets at work. The entire team looks forward to this lighthearted weekly review that is sent out just in time to combat the Wednesday afternoon slump and always lifts spirits.
Celebrating Wins – Every win large or small, individual or team-wide, is announced and celebrated on our “Wins” channel on Slack. Any employee can post a win and camaraderie is built as every employee joins the celebration with a dancing party parrot or congrats emoji!
Employee Surveys – We have to give credit to the eminently user-friendly Google Surveys for this. These simple to create and easy to respond to forms allow us to efficiently take the pulse of our team and to quickly incorporate company-wide changes and improvements while being time (and cost) effective.
Entertaining Ice Breakers – Every Thursday we kick-off our afternoon full-team meeting with a silly ice-breaker. We have debated strawberry vs. grape jam, determined the appropriate date in September to kick off pumpkin spiced latte season, and once played a rowdy game of “Never Have I Ever!” This quick and quirky activity has allowed us to strengthen our bond through the most important medicine of all: laughter.
Weekly Wellness Articles – There is no shortage of reading material around finding ergonomic home office essentials or incorporating walks into your daily WFH routine. Sifting through the volume and content of these posts can be time consuming. Each week we select one wellness related article like this one and share the highlights with the team for a fast, informative content review.
Fun Fridays – Creating connection despite the distance between us has always been a priority at Final. We have recently resolved to have a little feel-good fun on Fridays with random afternoon chats on Slack. To date we have taken the time to thank a coworker for their assistance during the week, experienced remote forest bathing, and spammed the thread with our favorite and most hilarious memes and gifs.
Connecting with One Another – Most importantly, we are resolved to maintaining strong connections with one another. There is no limit on the time allowed for jumping into a Google Hangout or picking up the phone for a quick chat. After over two years of remote work-life the company culture at Final has remained strong because of our ability to come together and face the challenges of an ever-changing arena thoughtfully, creatively and now, cost-effectively.