Zoom yoga and Olympic style team sports, paint by numbers and cooking competitions are among the ways one business is keeping its team connected and engaged during lockdown.
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Coutts Wollongong senior associate Rebecca Drennan is the mother of two young children who is combining home schooling duties with working from home and staying connected via Zoom.
Mrs Drennan said the activities Coutts has organised for its employees online, such a boot camps and quizzes, have really helped.
"I have enjoyed yoga the most," she said.
"Especially with the meditation that is involved. That certainly helps with the stresses of working from home. And it really helps keep everyone connected."
Mrs Drennan said her children loved helping her with an Olympic themed scavenger hunt.
"My son also enjoyed painting with me and helping me find objects around the house as part of the Olympic treasure hunt. They found a torch in the garage. It has been a great way to keep them entertained as well."
Coutts is not the only business keeping their employees top of mind during lockdown.
Illawarra Credit Union staff recently gathered remotely to recognise their achievements over the last 12 months.
Chief executive Anthony Perkiss wanted to surprise them and create an atmosphere on Zoom similar to what it would have been if they were all able to celebrate together.
So he sent staff boxes of delicious treats from Deli & Dine on Market.
"It was a great way to enjoy our end-of-financial-year celebration in the comfort of our homes, and to have some fun enjoying the cheese platter together," he said.
"Finding a creative and safe ways to support each other definitely goes a long way in helping us all get through difficult times, and it also helped in welcoming new staff, with great communication flowing throughout the evening.
"The staff also posted the event on social media to spread the word and encourage others to embrace new ways to engage with each other."
Mr Perkiss said it was also a great way to support another local business.
"The pandemic has been difficult on everyone, and we believe we have a responsibility to support our staff and our local community, particularly while working remotely," he said.
At the Wollongong office of engineering consultant GHD a business group leader arranged for hampers to be sent out to people working from home.
Coutts partner Karena Nicholls said she and principal director Adriana Care valued the health and wellbeing of every employee and workplace culture was a high priority.
They believe the activities organised during lockdown would help the team integrate back into the office when NSW eventually comes out of lock down.
Ms Nicholls said it was important for businesses to invest in their people and the firm rolled out its culture focused activities because it didn't want its employees to feel isolated.
She said the feedback was very positive.
"We do Zoom yoga twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays," she said.
"We also did some meditation with a paint by number exercise and have had a personal trainer lead workouts in the middle of the day to encourage people to take a break with some physical exercise.
"We are doing Master Chef style cooking at the moment. People can pick and choose what they want to do. It is not mandatory."
Ms Nicholls said up to 20 employees did Zoom yoga at the same time but paint by numbers is delivered to their homes and they do that in their own time. But every week they post a photo of their work.
She said the activities helped create and maintain a team culture. She said the biggest challenge for people working from home was they were there 24/7 and it was important they were encouraged to take a break from work.
With the Olympic events staff were broken into teams of six to represent individual countries. And all the teams competed at the same time on Zoom.
One of the events was a scavenger hunt where they had to find certain items such a pair of goggles, a whistle or a medal.
Prizes for things like the best dressed team were delivered to their home and medal ceremonies were conducted using hand made podiums .
The cooking competition is being done in a similar way with teams having to come up with three recipes. They then video their favourite to be judged by a panel.
"The name of the team I am in is called Whisk Takers," Ms Nicholls said.
"At the end of the competition we will be creating a cook book."
Ms Nicholls said the Zoom activities have been a great way of keeping everyone in contact and supporting each other.
"I think that is really important," she said.
"And we have things our staff can do with their children and family on the weekend. We even sent a kids pack that has colouring in and biscuits to decorate.
"And if the lockdown keeps going we are thinking about doing a murder mystery."
Ms Nicholls hopes what Coutts is doing inspires other businesses to engage in such activities to help maintain their positive workplace culture and reduce the impact lockdowns have on people's mental health.
She believes keeping people connected positively is the best way to do that.
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
