Do you know your closest coworker’s favorite snack? What about your manager’s go-to TV show or your direct report’s most-played game? So much of company culture hinges on how we relate to and work with our colleagues, and nurturing those relationships takes time and intention.
Regular company gatherings can help foster a sense of camaraderie and closer connections among coworkers, but making those gatherings impactful can be a challenge. Zooey Souligny, manager of digital and channel marketing at DoubleDown Interactive discovered that a regular “Game Hour” checked all the boxes for a meaningful, connective and fun company gathering.
“We can get caught up in seeing each other as employees, when in reality we're much more than our job titles,” she said.
Participants in the Game Hour shared that they appreciated the time to play and laugh with coworkers, and that the event provided a really helpful icebreaker for getting to know one another better. The event required planning and technology troubleshooting, but Souligny said it was well worth the effort. She encouraged managers to consider planning regular non-work gatherings to foster connection and camaraderie.
“It's fun to see personalities come out during these games and to watch your teammates form new connections,” Souligny said.
Whether it’s a Game Hour, holiday party or company-wide offsite, meaningful gatherings can be great catalysts for deeper connection and a more vibrant company culture.
DoubleDown Interactive is a gaming company that makes popular apps for both mobile and desktop players.
Share an example of one especially meaningful team gathering. Where was it, and how did it bring team members together?
We recently had "Game Hour," a monthly event that brings together three small teams for an hour of gameplay during a workday. Although we have a hybrid work model, we have several employees that are fully remote. In order to include everyone, we decided a virtual event was the way to go.
I purposefully scheduled this during the workday — avoiding our busy days — to give everyone a break from work to laugh with their coworkers. We're a gaming company, so it's important to remember to take time to actually play a game and have some fun.
We played Jackbox games, which can get pretty ridiculous and funny. We have since had another Game Hour and played a virtual version of Codenames, which requires a lot of teamwork and communication. It was definitely a hit and a game we'll be playing again in the future.
What was some of the positive feedback you received after the event? What did employees enjoy the most about it?
I always make sure to collect anonymous feedback to help improve future events. Game Hour got plenty of positive feedback. Participants enjoyed spending quality time with everyone, laughing, and that the games were a nice icebreaker.
I thought the feedback about the games being an icebreaker was noteworthy as we were playing with other teams in the company. There were definitely some learnings and technological challenges to hosting a virtual event, but overall it seems like it was a success and everyone had a fun time.
How did this event have a long-lasting impact on your culture?
This event joined together several teams that didn't necessarily interact frequently and helped encourage conversation. One piece of feedback was that someone enjoyed spending time with people from different teams, which warmed my heart. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of working in silos, so it is nice to have a fun way to bring teams together and share in a laugh.
It also helps to humanize and make everyone more approachable. We can get caught up in seeing each other as employees, but we're much more than our job titles. It's fun to see personalities come out during these games and to watch your teammates form new connections.
I think we can get caught up in seeing each other as employees, when in reality we're much more than our job titles.”
I would encourage people managers to coordinate a regularly scheduled non-work related gathering, even if only for an hour, to help build camaraderie and open the door to better communication.
