The Virtual Water Cooler

Due to recent world events, the number of remote employees at ReadMe has grown from 3 to most of us. Some people (hey introverts!) are content working from home all of the time, but others need the social aspect that only a water cooler (or the modern day equivalent: kombucha tap) can provide.

After just two days working from home—one of which was our normal “work from home Wednesday”—I was already starting to get cabin fever. So I posted this message in our slack channel:

If anyone is feeling a bit frustrated about working from home for consecutive days and wants to have some contact besides their cat, let me know and i’d be happy to have a group highfive at 9:30am PST! We can chat about work stuff, non-work stuff or whatever funny thing your cat has done today. Open to all!(Can you tell i’m getting a little bored of it already? haha)

The minutes rolled by, and only 3 measly reactions (👍)—was this an intention to join me? Or a pity “yeah I’ll keep you company”—I wasn’t sure.

The start time comes along, I’m on another call and someone who did not add a reaction asks for a link to the chat! Then, 5 minutes in we’re at 9 people! Huzzah!

The Virtual Water Cooler.

Eventually I had to duck out to join another meeting. I left the conversation going without me!

We asked the perma-remotes for their sanity tips, and they gladly obliged:

Make the effort—get up, get dressed, get showered.
Set boundaries in the home—have separation between sleeping areas, working areas and eating areas.
Don’t isolate yourself—reach out to people who you may not normally talk to.
Take breaks and get fresh air.
Don’t be ashamed to talk to your pet!

And, try the Virtual Water Cooler today!