How’s everyone doing out there? We’ve surpassed two full weeks of working from home (WFH) and doing our part to spatially distance—while others continue to commute into their jobs across the country working harder than ever to keep our communities healthy. All of us doing our part for the greater good! Both working from home and commuting into work is not without its challenges at this critical time. We’re all learning to adapt. Thankfully, our team is feeling closer than ever thanks to some…creativity.

In the past week, there have been so many posts on best practices for telecommuting – how to stay connected, productive, and healthy while working from home. As a company that is all about the commute and its impact on individuals, workplaces, and communities, we thought we might share a bit about what we are doing to lean into our company values while spatially distanced.

Our hope is that you’ll take away some useful, creative ideas that can be implemented, this week, at your organization. We want to learn from each of you too, so speak up and share your own ideas in the comments!

We’ve started some new Slack channels

Whether you use Slack to communicate or another program like Microsoft Teams – the concept is the same. We’ve created fun new channels to keep us connected, active, and entertained.

#virtualcoffee – keeping us connected

We integrated the donut app into Slack to randomly pair us with a colleague each Monday for a remote coffee, lunch, or donut. 

#50-50-50-club – keeping us active

This channel is the 50-50-50 club. All are welcome. Do 50 squats, 50 push-ups, and 50 sit-ups throughout your day and document it in the channel for kudos from your colleagues. Use the sets to break up your day and rejuvenate– bonus points if you post photos! I just hope no one cares when I set my yoga mat up next to my desk and randomly jump into a set of 15 push ups once we’re back in the office. 

#dogalerts and #kidalerts – keeping us entertained

Some existing channels have gotten new life as we all get used to our new ‘co-workers’ – aka that lazy cat who sleeps all day and steals our seats, the kids who say the darnedest things while ‘homeschooling’ and dogs who just don’t understand why we have to be on our laptops all day.

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Sharing Our Home Workspace(s)

Sharing our home workspaces just like we used to share office workspace. It’s lovely to see the home set ups full of windows, plants, and the occasional lazy co-worker (see above). 

We’re Working Out together – Virtually

We found a yoga instructor who is teaching virtual yoga classes to all Luum team members who want to join, once a week, every week. It feels good to know our leadership cares about our mental health and connection while we’re all working remote. 

We’re supporting local businesses

Each Luum team member was given a gift card to compensate for the lack of office snacks and coffee – and encouraged to use it on small businesses in our neighborhoods. If you have the means to support local – now is the time when they need you the most!

We’re looking out for each other and checking in

Many of our teams have started ‘stand-ups’

‘Stand up’ is a term commonly used at tech companies where teams meet for 15 minutes to check in on top priorities and blockers. These quick collaborations are nicknamed ‘stand up’ because team members literally stand to make sure the meeting doesn’t last too long. 

We’ve increased our book club meetings 

Spoiler alert! There are no books assigned in this ‘book club’. Now is a time to support each other more than ever. We have a bi-weekly book club for women at the Luum office where we support one another on all things work, life, and gender. We’re now meeting weekly, realizing that we are all looking for more opportunities to connect and support. 

We’re having virtual happy hours

We’re missing our Friday afternoon office beers – but we’ve continued the tradition virtually. Plus the parents on the Luum team can join in and still push their kids on the backyard swing. Or dial in from a boat, like our CTO, Tyler.  

So what are you doing at your organization?

We want to know! Leave comments on our social posts. We don’t know how long this ‘new normal’ will last, but we do know that together, creatively, we can all be there for each other — virtually.