Virtual working groups: the good, the bad and the simple individual

Virtual working groups? You can’t really mingle with or dance with coworkers, and it’s hard to get into the disco vibe in your home office. On the other hand, you can’t spread disease, you don’t have to go home, and there is no chance of an ill-advised romantic encounter.

In the Covid-19 era however, the gala options are limited. Businesses are looking to event planners to create virtual social events for staff. And with working from home here to stay, some expect demand to continue even after the pandemic.

After almost a year of doing her homework, fintech employee Catharina Gehrke was finally able to get office gossip in the virtual bathroom and smoking area at her company’s online Christmas party. .

The event she attended included a (virtual) taxi and dance floor, an impersonator of Queen Elizabeth II, a cocktail-making class, as well as (real) food and drink baskets delivered to the 200 revelers. – the staff had stayed at home.

Even though I was sitting alone in my living room, it really felt like I was at a party, said Gehrke, who runs the Swedish branch of online pet insurance company Bought By. Many.

Gehrke sampled all the “place” had to offer, but said the highlight was receiving juicy gossip in the office in the privacy of the (virtual) bathroom – where, with the click of a mouse , she could run off the dance floor with a small group of friends.

She said the event was one of the best social events she had been to, but added, “Maybe you just had to be there.”

As work habits change, the global virtual events market is expected to grow from just under $100 billion in 2020 to $400 billion by 2027, according to data from Grand View Research.

Virtual social networks are 100% here to stay, but combined with in-person events, said Rachel Haines, director of organization and development at Swedish payments company Klarna. “After all, I’d rather do yoga on the roof of our HQ rather than in my living room.”

Klarna made virtual socialization a central part of her corporate culture during the pandemic.

A lot of our people are young and live alone, Haines added. “Online social networks are very important and we have launched several great initiatives to make sure people are connected.”

These initiatives include virtual Friday drinks, weekday cooked meals, and morning yoga. Klarna even did a team-building activity where staff solve puzzles in order to free themselves from a virtual “escape room,” Haines said.

A dozen shocked faces

The work from home experience has been so successful in some industries, like finance, that many people do not intend to go back to type. Half of finance workers in Britain, for example, do not want to return to the office after COVID-19, according to consultancy firm KPMG.

Edward Pollard, chief operating officer of Event Organizer Hire Space, said the surge in demand for online events during the pandemic has forced his company to innovate.

Customers are now asking us for everything from virtual horse races to cooking classes and networking events, Pollard said.

Yet some workers are not so comfortable with the new order.

I was put on the spot with a solo verse to our virtual vocals, said Jake, a London-based charity worker. After tweeting a few terrible notes, he turned off his camera and claimed the internet had shut down.

“But the damage was done. I just remember a dozen shocked faces in a grid on my screen.”

Or take the case of Sebastian Woods, who works for a machine learning company in Stockholm. He was somewhat upset when his wife, who like him worked from their apartment, attended a work social event on Friday night.

“I couldn’t concentrate on my Excel spreadsheet because she was doing the banana dance at the kitchen table.”