Creating Social Spaces From a Work From Home Environment

As we get more accustomed to a "new normal," of working from home and more time spent away from our offices, we are also moving away from the genuine interaction from being under the same roof as our colleagues.

We're missing the coffee and water cooler talks, lunch dates, and afterwork drinks -- and let's face it, sitting in front of a computer all day taking video meetings isn't the same as harmless office banter.

So how can we utilize video platforms to create a fun non-work related environment where we can reconnect with our teammates? Here are a few ideas we came up with:

• Scheduled morning coffee - this can be anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes in your morning calendars and anyone free can pop in with their favourite morning beverage and hype eachother up for the day.

• Lunchroom - a daily meeting link can be set up for people to drop in and eat lunch together. Make it interesting -- maybe have themed lunches?

• Activities - how about doing a paint event, yoga class, or game room during the lunch hour or after work hours - get creative!

• End of week drinks - create a party room for the end of week, end of day for people to join with their cocktails and beer! This is a great way to wind down and start the weekend off!

If you have any other great ideas, please share below! We'd love to hear!