Keeping up the fun while working from home

Having digital after-works can be challenging, but we are doing our best to be creative. Here are our best tips for digital fun!

The trainee program is not only an opportunity to get to know the different parts of ABB and to try out new roles, it is also a great way to get to know new people. All of us trainees were in the same boat when starting ABB – we all graduated recently, we were all starting the same new job and most of us were finding ourselves in a new city. Because of this, everyone was eager to get to know each other and do fun activities outside of work. However, meeting in a virtual environment is not always easy, especially when trying to make it fun and casual. People interrupting each other, awkward silences and the constant view of a Power Point slide can get very tiring. This meant that we really had to tap into our imagination when planning after-work activities, and these are some of our best tips and tricks for digital fun!

Daily fika breaks

While this technically isn’t an after-work activity, since it is scheduled during working hours, I personally think it is one of the best digital hangouts we have. Every day we have a 30 min fika break scheduled which everyone can join. It is always nice to have this interaction, especially for the people working from home, since this is an opportunity for all of us to talk to people about topics not related to work.

Friday quiz

Every Friday we have an AW quiz on Teams with a different theme every week. We have had themes like famous summer hits, winter sports, Disney, Christmas special and more. Every week we split the group into teams, send them into break-out rooms in Teams where they answer the questions together. However, we keep individual scores, and when the trainee period is over, the person with the highest score will win a fabulous prize!

Christmas rhymes

This group clearly likes its quizzes, and when the holidays were approaching, we decided to mix it up a little and have a quiz with Christmas rhymes. In preparation for the quiz, everyone was asked to write a Christmas rhyme for a hypothetical Christmas present of their own choosing. It could, for instance, be a rhyme about a coffee mug or a pair of ski-goggles. The point of the quiz was then to guess what present each rhyme was about. One of the rhymes, for instance, was about a microphone, and it went like this:

“The best way to give Christmas cheer,

Is to sing out loud for all to hear.

Because of that I give you this,

For you to use and create some bliss.”

Rhyming in a second language was very challenging, but we were all incredibly impressed with how well everyone did!

 

Laughter yoga

This is incredibly funny, but does not work unless everyone truly commits! Luckily, we were not afraid to embarrass ourselves and everyone did every exercise, no questions asked. To do the yoga, we had a Youtube video running in Teams, so that everyone could see all the exercises at the same time, and we also put the screen in “together mode” – something I recommend everyone to try if they haven’t. Having a group of people laughing for no reason together in a virtual classroom is a sight not to be missed!

Chocolate tasting

While we probably would have been happy with buying 5 different types of Marabou bars and trying them together, we decided to go a bit further and book a virtual chocolate tasting with an actual chocolatier. Everyone got a box of 12 chocolates sent home about a week in advance and then we had a virtual session where the chocolatier talked about the different types of chocolate we were tasting and about the chocolate making process from bean to bar. It was really fun (and delicious)!

So those are some of our tips for digital after-works! Having these types of social activities have been really valuable for teambuilding and for keeping a positive spirit. Therefore, we will continue to be creative and keep the fun times up as best we can!