Are virtual coffee chat programs worth it for remote workplaces using Slack? Which vendor is the best option for facilitating 1:1 casual chats between co-workers outside of work hours? Can programs like Donut, Aphinity.ai, Shuffl, or Dailybot effectively encourage team bonding and socialization in remote settings? How do these AI-powered solutions compare in terms of cost, usability, and overall effectiveness? #VirtualCoffeeChats #RemoteWorkplace #EmployeeEngagement #AIPrograms #SlackApps #TeamBonding
We used Donut and didn’t have any complaints from folks
Great idea for building a sense of team, but if you want to actually help the company (and your employees), you may want to look at using organizational network analysis to help.
ONA is a diagnostic survey that can help you uncover the relationships that drive your organization, and actually measure connection (centrality) and collaboration. We have used it to find teams and people that are less connected, and connect them with people that can help further their careers. Plus, it can help find homophily and correct cognitive bias. We found that increasing peoples networks is good, but got more bang for our buck when we used ONA.
Check out Michael Arena’s work on networks and the effect that remote working has had.
Not knocking coffee chats, but your ROI will be higher with an ONA and targeted network work.
Hi, HR leader of 2 years here.
I felt this so much personally when our team went fully remote, just feeling disconnected and not meeting people outside of my own team. We talked about it and looked at pricing, and we ended up going with a newer (and cheaper) tool called CultureBot.
It’s worked great so far, no complaints. I’ve seen much more camaraderie on all-hands calls as well so that’s been nice.
A company I had been with used a service called Shaka that worked nicely. We are less than 300 EE’s, so I just run a survey with time preferences and make the chats (usually 3 people so it’s less intense) myself.
We just use zoom for virtual coffee dates