There was a time when everyone gathered around the water cooler or the coffee maker to catch up on some office gossip or talk about the inter-department basketball game the night before.
But what happened to the traditional water cooler talk when employees started moving into their home offices?
In the US alone, 27% of employees are working remotely this year. It’s also predicted that by 2025, there would be 36.2 million employees in the US would be working remotely.
That doesn’t mean nobody gets to catch up any longer. If anything, building friendships at work is more critical in a virtual workplace because of the risk of isolation.
Thank goodness for technology, because water cooler talk has now evolved into virtual coffee chats.
What are Virtual Coffee Chats?
A virtual coffee chat is a digital rendezvous where you hop on a video call or a chat room to have a casual conversation with your work buddies.
Think of it as the online equivalent of meeting up for a random coffee break in the office, but with the added convenience of not having to leave your cozy workspace or deal with those office coffee machines that always seem to malfunction.
During a virtual coffee chat, you can discuss anything and everything under the sun, except maybe that top-secret project your boss warned you about. It's a chance to catch up on what's happening in each other's lives, share hilarious anecdotes, or dive into topics like movies, TV shows, hobbies, or whatever comes to mind.
Not a coffee person? It doesn’t matter! You can bring your favorite drink to the table, as long as you show up for your scheduled chat.
What Virtual Coffee Chats Can Do For Your Team
Why is it time to start adding virtual coffee chats to your workplace initiatives?
Here are just some of the benefits it can have for your team:
- Social interaction and relationship-building
Virtual coffee chats provide a much-needed avenue for socializing and connecting with colleagues, which helps foster a sense of camaraderie and belonging. This is perfect for teams with members who work remotely, minimizing the chances of isolation.
These chats also offer an opportunity to build relationships with team members, even if you haven't had a chance to meet face-to-face. It helps create a supportive and friendly work environment.
- A much-needed break from formality
Business is business, but working in a somber environment where everybody talks about numbers and the bottom line 100% of the time can be counterproductive.
Through these random coffee chats, you can create a more relaxed atmosphere where colleagues can engage in casual conversations, free from the constraints of formal work-related discussions. It gives that much-needed break from the stressful aspects of work and presents a chance to recharge the brain in between tasks.
- Increased employee engagement
By encouraging open dialogue and sharing personal experiences, virtual coffee chats help increase engagement among team members.
Did you know that companies in the US lose an average of $450-$550 billion every year because of disengaged employees? This is why more companies are starting to find ways to improve engagement to boost morale and productivity.
- Knowledge sharing
Virtual coffee might sound like it’s all about fun, but you can bring a little bit of work into the virtual watercooler talk as well.
Informal discussions during virtual coffee chats could lead to knowledge exchange where colleagues can share insights, tips, and resources in a less pressured environment. It’s a great tool for enhancing professional growth and learning especially for those whose creative juices flow more over casual conversations.
- Inclusivity and connection
Implementing DEI activities at work often require tools that allow everyone to connect regardless of their location and what group they belong to. Virtual coffee chats could be one such platform.
Virtual coffee chats ensure that all team members have an equal opportunity to participate and feel connected to the broader work community. These chats pave the way for spontaneous conversations, clarification of ideas, and active listening, which is a great way to bring everyone together despite having different backgrounds.
These benefits show that virtual coffee chats could be beneficial regardless of industry or work setup. However, it’s also up to you on how you could make these virtual conversations successful.
Whether you want to use this approach to provide communication icebreakers in the workplace or looking for effective platforms for your DEI activities and mentoring programs, it’s all about how you can make these coffee chats more interesting.
5 Ways to Make Coffee Chats More Interesting
Virtual coffee chats have the potential to boost engagement and productivity around the workplace, especially if done right. If they sound fun right off the bat, just wait and see what happens if you add even more personality into it.
Here are a few ideas on how you can make virtual coffee chats even more interesting than they already are:
- Themed Coffee Chats
There’s a world of topics that people can talk about. But what if it eventually becomes harder to figure out how to go beyond the small talk?
Adding a splash of creativity by introducing fun themes for your virtual coffee chats can be just the thing to break the monotony. From “Crazy Travel Stories" to "Favorite Childhood Memories", there’s a story in there somewhere that will make people perk up and want to share.
Once everyone embraces the theme and shares their unique experiences, it's going to be like a mini costume party in the office minus the awkward dancing.
- Icebreaker Games
You don’t just need ice breakers for hybrid meetings; they can be very useful in virtual coffee chats, too. Playing remote games like "Two Truths and a Lie" or “This or That” are a great way for everyone to get to know their colleagues better.
In Two Truths and a Lie, each person shares three statements, and others guess which one is false. It’s always fun to see people get surprised at some of the truths they find out about others.
This or That, on the other hand, sparks interesting conversations about why some participants chose one thing over another.
- Fun Facts Round
Everybody loves a bit of trivia! Use this fact as a way to kick off the chat and ask everyone to start sharing random fun facts.
Each person can prepare an intriguing fact about themselves or a topic of interest. You'll be surprised by the fascinating nuggets of information that come up and the conversations they ignite.
- Thought-Provoking Questions
Inject some intellectual stimulation by posting thought-provoking questions to start discussions. Ask them about anything!
From their favorite books and dream travel destinations, or even philosophical dilemmas, it’s a great way to engage in deeper conversations to add a touch of depth into the usual coffee chat conversations.
- Interactive Polls or Quizzes
Polls or quizzes are always a great way to add an interactive element to any space. Ask everyone fun questions like "What's the best ice cream flavor every invented?" and see how many people actually like plain old vanilla versus weirder flavors.
You can even host a quick pop quiz! It's an entertaining way to encourage participation and friendly competition.
Creativity goes a long way when it comes to virtual coffee chats. This is what makes it a few levels better than the usual water cooler discussion.
Now that you have a few creative ideas, it’s time to figure out what platform you can use.
Why CoffeePals is the Best Platform for Virtual Coffee Chats
CoffeePals is the best platform to use if you want to turn those water cooler conversations into virtual coffee chats. It’s the best way to build connections within your teams regardless if you’re in a hybrid, fully-remote, or in-office environment.
Yup, though the term “virtual” might give you the impression that these coffee chats are limited to remote teams, they’re actually great regardless of the setting. All it takes is choosing the right tool to use.
How can CoffeePals help?
- Our random matcher allows team members to have random coffee chats with people they’ve never met before, helping them expand their network.
- The system automatically schedules coffee chats based on each person’s availability, which means you won’t have to manually match people and look into their individual schedules.
- The Coffee Maker feature automatically sends out thought-provoking questions on a weekly basis.
- You can form different groups based on your needs, making it great for employee onboarding, employee resource groups, DEI activities, and a lot more.
- It even has a Coffee Lottery feature where random team members could win a virtual coffee chat with key people in your organization, like the CEO!
The beauty of this tool is that the people behind it know exactly how it feels to be out of touch and isolated from the people they work with. That’s why the entire platform is meant to break communication and engagement barriers in the workplace, and we’re adding more features regularly to cater to the needs of different types of teams.
So get started on these virtual coffee chats now and give your team members the chance to unwind, have a laugh, and build relationships with their colleagues.
