A lot of the work I do as a Consultant at The Cadmus Group centers around improving employee engagement in the federal government space.

A question that we advised on before the pandemic and continue to tackle after is: how can large, geographically diverse organizations get employees excited about engaging with each other in a hybrid working environment? (Especially when your clients don’t have the budgets for fancy team lunches or in-person outings like a lot of companies in the private sector do!)

You start by employing the tools that are already available to you, and then you get strategic about communicating. Our team at Cadmus Group pitched a “Virtual Watercooler” utilizing Microsoft Teams to our Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Information Technology (IT) client. Within the first three months of the launch, we tripled engagement within the “Virtual Watercooler” Teams channel. Here’s how you can do it, too.

1. Define the purpose of the virtual watercooler

As an example: “Our Teams channel is a virtual gathering place for employees to celebrate work accomplishments, share life events, and build relationships within the organization.”

2. Educate leadership about its value

Employees who feel connected at work are more likely to recommend their company to others and are less likely to leave their jobs. In addition to recruitment and retention, the ripple effects of a virtual watercooler can lead to an improved workplace culture, increased productivity, and a happier workforce.

3. Develop a step-by-step guide for implementation

To ensure a seamless implementation of the virtual watercooler, design a step-by-step guide that lays out the following:

• Objective/purpose (step 1)
• How to set it up in Teams
• How to maintain it (SLAs or protocols for community monitoring)
• 12 monthly sample prompts to ensure minimum engagement once a month

4. Announce the virtual watercooler!

A successful launch of the Teams channel will largely depend on how well and how frequently it’s communicated to potential users. Create a mini communications campaign for the first couple weeks including:

• Sharing the step-by-step guide with the leadership team
• Sending an email from a chief executive or sponsor announcing the launch (including a link to the channel)
• Encouraging managers to talk about the launch in meetings with employees

5. Practice what you preach

Lastly, leadership should set an example and post to the virtual watercooler. Managers are encouraged to take turns posting once a month, in addition to engaging with posts by reacting to them or leaving comments.

Sharing photos of your weekend plans, asking valuable questions, and planning in-office meet ups are excellent ways to get the conversation going beyond operations. Meaningful engagement will be the key to making it a place employees will actually want to visit and contribute to.

It will take some time for folks to get used to the new space, but with consistency and meaningful engagements, it’ll be an employee favorite in no time!