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Coworker Coffee 2.0 — Regular one-on-one's for better employee engagement
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@francovarriano - sometimes if there's just two locations, then the matches will be split into separate lists.
But if employees are scattered between cities or even different countries then normally the coffee will take place over Slack or a Google Hangout.
If the latter then we help the pair that are matched for coffee to find a time that works in both of their timezones.
They've added user profiles, conversation starters, a scheduling assistant, manager accounts, bulk user import and multi-timezone support for global/remote companies.
Thanks @erictwillis for the hunt and the support from you and the maker community 💯
This is really cool. Getting to know others is core to our human needs but it's not always easy to do when new to companies or in large companies where you don't know everyone.
I really love how Alan's evolved this product over time from a simple email connector to a fully fledged product. I can see a lot of value here both for employees and for companies looking to create happier, more engaged employees.
Thanks @fredrivett! It's been a bit of trial and error along the way, but I'm fairly happy with how it's turned out.
And yes, absolutely! Anything that can make it a bit easier on newbies - we've all been there on a first day at work not knowing what we let ourselves in for 😉
@alangarrec How do you handle introverts in the office that may be fearful of trying this out for the first time?
@imns81 we make it as easy as we can by providing talking points to help kick start the conversation.
And we also have little user profiles where coworkers can add hobbies, their favourite movies...just a few little things to help coworkers connect.
But ultimately each user has to want to participate. We've found the introverts typically end up joining after one of their colleagues tells them about a few interesting coffees they've had.
It normally starts with an HR team all joining, and then it gradually spreads to the more introverted teams within a company after a few weeks.
Congrats on the new version Alan. It'd be cool if you could have random coffees with users cross-company, within similar industries maybe.
@morganric - nice idea...so more of an external networking tool (as opposed to internal networking).
It might be something we'll add in the future.
Thanks for the suggestion.
How do you get to know people at work?
How do you improve communication between departments?
Coffee is a great place to start, but you can't just email Richard Branson saying:
"Hey, I'm a new intern - fancy coffee?"
So to take the weirdness out of it, many companies organise randomised coffees. This normally starts by HR matching employees in Excel and sending out a weekly email.
That's exactly how we started, an email-first startup (hat tip @rrhoover) that gradually evolved into an employee engagement tool used by Fortune 500 companies.
Since our launch on PH last year we've added:
- User profiles
- Bulk user import
- Multiple timezone support
- Scheduling assistant
- Conversation starters
- Customize weekly email with company branding and message
- Optional manager debrief (thanks @jason for suggestion)
Here to answer any questions.
Thanks @horea4
I think that personal touch of sharing a coffee away from a computer screen can really help with company culture. Especially today with everyone permanently attached to their phones, email...
It's surprising what a difference a little bit of caffeine can make in the office 😉
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