Top Ideas for Watercoolr Gatherings

Ready to fill up your Watercoolr?

We built the Watercoolr platform to be ready out of the box, so you can gather your team on day one.

By now you know the basics (if not, click here), so let’s dive into some of Watercoolr’s more powerful features to set up a wide variety of events.

 

Company-Wide Coffee Break

Use your Watercoolr to break everyone out of their routines while forming new, unexpected connections. Set a daily time – even just five or ten minutes – for everyone to assemble with no rules or agenda, just an open forum. The actual coffee is optional.

• Set a recurring time that makes sense for your team, and communicate through Google, Slack Teams, your Company Calendar, etc. that all are encouraged to visit the Watercoolr and chat with others.
• Initiate thoughtful discussion by using Watercoolr’s Welcome Display to present a Thought of the Day, Quote of the Day, Question of the Day, etc. (some great ideas can be found here, here, and here).

New Employee Training Lounge

It can be disorienting to start work at a new company, especially when some or all employees are remote. Use your Watercoolr to welcome the month’s new hires in an environment where they can comfortably meet one another while learning more about your company’s culture.

• Use the Resource Display to present a slideshow of company policies that each new employee can navigate at their own pace.
• Set your Watercoolr’s customizable Attendee Nametags to best allow new hires to learn their coworkers’ names, departments, titles, etc. simply by hovering over their VCWs.

After-Work Happy Hour

Your Watercoolr is open 24/7, so encourage everyone to visit outside the traditional workday. By adjusting the look of the room, you might encourage an entirely different tone – get your head out of your office!

• Establish a weekly Happy Hour Event – say, Fridays at 6 PM, and let your staff know. Note: if you create multiple recurring events, your Watercoolr’s Description Field is a great place to list the entire weekly or monthly schedule.
• Your Watercoolr’s default Background Image can be easily swapped out for a more appropriate “evening out” image
• Attendee Nametags can be changed at any time, so why not loosen up the conversations by changing Title and Department to Desert Island Album and Secret Strength?

Sales Department Celebration

Everyone likes a little recognition for a job well done. If one or more team members are deserving of a public pat on the back, gather the department in Watercoolr.

• If there are twelve or fewer employees in the department, everyone can join a single Group Video Chat and raise a virtual glass to celebrate the achievement
• The Department Head can use Watercoolr’s Screenshare feature to display any accompanying charts and graphs, or even a photoshop of Cheryl as Wonder Woman.
• Encouraging everyone to set their view to Full-Screen Emphasis View ensures that whoever is currently doing the congratulation is seen prominently.

All-Hands CEO Address

Your Watercoolr doesn’t have to be all fun and games. If a need arises to gather everyone in an all-hands-on-deck address, Watercoolr might well be your ideal solution.

• The Resource Display supports live video from YouTube, Facebook, and more, so real-time broadcasting is as simple as embedding the HTML from the live platform of your choice
• Watercoolr’s Text Chat feature is great for attendee questions – either posed privately to the presenter only or event-wide for all to read. And of course, the presenter also has the option to reply publicly or privately, as desired.

Post-Address Discussion

Even if The CEO Address takes place in person or on another platform, Watercoolr is still the perfect forum for a follow-up discussion. Schedule it and let everyone know to meet thereafter at the main event to share their reactions and ideas.

• Use the Resource Display to embed a freshly posted video of the address itself, or to instead show a prepared Powerpoint of the main points of the address.
• Encourage everyone to form, join and merge video chats, setting Privacy Setting to On if desired for full disclosure in confidence

Company-Wide Brainstorm Session

Your company has a vast, untapped resource in its collective knowledge and expertise. When Glen steps away from the accounting department and bounces an idea off Katie from Legal, that’s when the sparks might really fly. Get everyone in the room together.

• Keep it free-form, or set the entire room on a single task by editing the default text in the Welcome Display to keep the group’s mental energy focused in a single direction
• Use Event-Wide Text Chat for Announcements (Please leave your current video chat and find two new people to talk to) or Guided Discussion (Take turns in your group sharing one recent experience that you feel is relevant to this challenge)

Afternoon Yoga Break

Workers are happier, healthier, and more productive when they are physically active. Encourage everyone to get up out of their seats and step back from their desks for a scheduled (or unscheduled) exercise session!

• Use your Resource Display as a video screen by selecting the Embed HTML option and entering the embed code for a short guided video on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
• A video can be left up all afternoon if you wish to provide a flexible viewing experience that can be enjoyed independently by everyone
• To make it a shared, group experience, schedule a time and embed a Facebook Live or YouTube Live video so everyone is watching (and stretching) at the same time. And yes, it is OK to turn your camera off.

Everyday suggestions for your staff

In addition to setting up scheduled events, you will get the most out of your Watercoolr by encouraging everyone to use it as a go-to for a wide variety of purposes:

• Impromptu Idea Share: If you have a presentation you want immediate feedback on, pop into the Watercoolr and video chat with a colleague using the Screenshare feature to present your work.
• Department Head “Office Hours”: Make yourself available to your team for a private conversation in a more casual setting. Sometimes a new setting makes all the difference!
• HR Availability: Encourage HR to announce that they will be in your Watercoolr to discuss set topics at given times, or be available for one-on-one chats utilizing Watercoolr’s Privacy Setting feature.

All of these ideas can be adjusted and customized to best suit your company’s structure and culture. Get creative with all of Watercoolr’s features and settings to bring out the best in your team. And be sure to share your own event ideas with us!

Additional Resources:

If you could use a refresher course in setting up your Watercoolr: Set Up Your Watercoolr in Five Simple Steps.

Need help letting your team know about your new Watercoolr? Read our sample email: Introducing Watercoolr to Your Organization.

When you’re ready to utilize Watercoolr’s more advanced features and customize even further: Advanced Tips for Your Watercoolr.

 

Please reach out to us at info@shindig.com if you have any questions.