Of all the things remote/hybrid work changed in our day-to-day lives, I’ve always felt that spontaneity was threatened most.
If not for the looming recession demanding more efficiency from us, our new virtual environments favored intentionality over sporadic. Planned over unplanned.
Think of it this way – all of those desk coffee chats, holding-the-door open chats, waiting-in-line chats, those all suddenly disappeared when we migrated to virtual workplaces. The physical nature of our interactions that brought spontaneity, those were all gone. And like I mentioned earlier, add some business pressure to turn around performance and BOOM, your calendar has magically transformed into all-biz, no talk.
Luckily, I’ve got 2 tips to help solve this. But before I share, I must say – you must personally believe in the value of spontaneity. That there’s magic in randomness. While implied, I’d rather say it out loud. Because at the end of the day, this takes work. You have to believe in the outcome.
Ok, tip #1: introduce planned spontaneity into your team’s meeting cadence.
What is this an example of? Oxymoron, right? Jumbo shrimp, as we all learned in middle school.
The point is, you have to fight the urge to think that spontaneity only comes out of the blue. Because if you do, you wait for it to come to you – and when you’re fully virtual, that day will likely never come.
My belief is you can morph spontaneity, or at least spark it. So start with a simple reoccurring meeting cadence. After all, humans love repetition.
In that meeting, figure out the best way to cultivate the desk coffee chats kind of experience. Could be as simple as an icebreaker, or could be as complex as curating mini-breakout rooms for intimate 1:1 time.
The magic here is finding the balance between stimulation vs. over-planning. You don’t want to overscience the ‘rules’ or agenda, or else this just becomes another minute-by-minute meeting. Instead, find a way to make an open discussion that includes as many people as possible.
A great example – talk about a very low-stakes but controversial item. “Taylor Swift is overrated”. Oh boy, you’re gonna get a reaction.
From there, see where the conversation goes. Maybe it includes work-talk, maybe it doesn’t.
Talk about something different every week in this reoccurring meeting block, and hopefully over time you have the basis of a casual/random environment. The best measurement of success here is twofold:
1. Are people loose and having fun.
2. Is everyone engaging.
If the answer to both of these is “yes” or “mostly yes”, you’ve got the start of something special.
Tip #2: SNACKS.
Tip #1 is great because you can set a reoccurring meeting either virtual or in person. Tip #2 is best achieved at in-person environments, so yes, I’m cheating a little.
One thing that leaders often overlook – just because your team is in person, doesn’t mean they immediately start talking to each other. While in-person is a necessary prerequisite to physical interaction, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee it. I remember early in my career, I worked in a group with each person sitting at individual desks with headphones in, rarely any talk. Even during lunch, which were eaten at desks, there was little to no discussion.
The point is, you have to find a reason to talk. Snacks are the simplest form of “reason”.
Snacks are perfect because they don’t take long to eat. And since they’re normally consumed after lunch, they’re a perfect mid-afternoon break. Above all, people love food. People love yummy. People love bitesized versions of yummy that take only 15 minutes to finish.
Finally, snacks are awesome because they invite personality. Oh you don’t like the pink Starbursts??? What are you, CRAZY?? Or, “John, what’s your favorite snack?”. Snacks are opinionated yet relatable, providing a perfect avenue for Associate to talk to Senior Vice President.
Years ago, I used to sit right next to our industry group’s “Snack Station”. I vividly remember it had these adorable mason jars filled with: Jolly Ranchers, Starbursts, Gummy Worms, Fruit Snacks, Chips, you name it. And based on its location in the middle of the desks (which was probably no coincidence now that I think about it), it was a perfect place to run into a coworker and engage in a spontaneous conversation.
Last note here – if your leadership isn’t willing to spend $50/mo on snacks:
1. find new leadership
2. split the bill amongst the managers. In some ways, it garners camaraderie finding the solution despite leadership not agreeing to.
Whether reoccurring meetings or in-office snacks, hopefully something spoke to you that excites you to start. Be patient, with your team and with yourself. You can’t create “fun time”, but you can definitely spark it.