Coffee lovers everywhere can agree that coffee is pretty much everything. It wakes you up in the morning, tastes delicious, stimulates your brain and creates a fun vibe when friends come over. So who doesn’t love it?
And at work, coffee has always been helpful in increasing your productivity, boosting your mood to enjoy interactions with teammates around a hot and intense drink.
But since you started working from home, you’ve been missing those happy encounters at the coffee machine… Well, this time is over as we introduce you to virtual coffee!
Read on and see how you can bring coffee breaks back to your virtual team!
How does virtual coffee work?
Remember those coffee breaks you were having, discussing business, project updates or just describing your weekend?
Well, a virtual coffee is basically the same, but online.
It’s a way to share a moment with one person, or your full team, around a nice cup of coffee via a video call. It’s as simple as that.
What are the benefits of virtual coffee for remote workers?
It’s not just because we are coffee lovers that we want to talk about virtual chats, there are true benefits to a casual virtual coffee date. Let’s list a few.
Take a break
We know. It’s hard to stay focused on your tasks all day long when we are working remotely.
Virtual coffee breaks are an opportunity to take a break from the office and enjoy some real-life interactions with other remote workers. Because isn’t that the whole reason for a coffee break?
Know your teammates better
Sometimes, it can be complicated building a bond with your team when working remotely.
Virtual coffees can actually help and provide employees with an opportunity to get to know each other better.
This may foster stronger relationships within the workplace, whereas in usual times, you would sip your coffee alone, in front of your screen.
Increase productivity
Drinking a cup of black coffee can significantly increase your productivity and creativity. It’s scientifically proven!
A small dose of caffeine can stimulate your brain and help you switch from relaxed mode to work mode in a matter of minutes.
And who doesn’t need motivation when we start to feel down or tired?
Give a boost to your mood
Virtual coffee breaks can positively impact your mood.
If you’ve felt alone while working from home, it’s always nice and entertaining to start talking to your teammates working in other parts of the country or even of the world.
Coffee break is a great way to spark conversation, have face-to-face, or camera-to-camera – contact during your lonely days, to brighten up your mood!
5 Ways to Set Up Your Virtual Coffee Chat
We have gathered here some ways coffee chats can be arranged in a remote workplace environment:
Virtual Coffee Breaks
The classical coffee break. We’ve all missed it, and it’s back!
Organize some virtual coffee breaks to allow employees to distract quickly from their work and enjoy some downtime without leaving their desks.
You can set up a friendly weekly invite of half an hour after lunch for instance, when all the team is welcome to join.
Open Virtual Coffee Room
Another way to keep conversation open in your team would be to start an online coffee room open at any time of the day, everyday of the week.
Whenever an employee wants to take their break and is ready for some social interaction, they can connect to the link and see if someone pops-in at the same time.
When someone does, then it’s the ideal opportunity to get to know that person better and take a break together. Perhaps no one will, but they can always try again later!
During a Virtual Meeting
If you do have several virtual meetings planned in the week with your team, you might wanna consider giving them the freedom to sip their hot drink of choice while attending.
Nothing better than starting the day off on the right foot with a casual team meeting and a cup of coffee (or tea) in hand.
Virtual Brainstorming
As stated above, coffee is great to enhance productivity and creativity. Therefore, if you need to prepare a brainstorming session, make sure to include some coffee in it!
One-to-One Interview and Virtual Networking
Now, if you need to interview a professional for a job or a future partner, you could also think about setting up a virtual coffee chat instead of a formal meeting.
After all, virtual coffee dates are a great way to avoid that awkward feeling when you’re meeting someone for the first time and get to know that person better!
Organize your Delicious Virtual Meeting
Plan the coffee break
To set up a virtual coffee, there are several factors to consider. For example, it may depend on the context of your conversation or what you want out of each other during that chat session.
Usually these events can be organized either by a video call (you can use Zoom, Skype, Google Hangout, Microsoft Teams etc.) or through any instant messaging app (such as Slack or WhatsApp).
Send an invite
Communication is key. Once you have the room set up, you just have to invite your colleagues to join. You can either set a certain time, or create an open virtual room where they can connect at any time they want.
Don’t worry, nothing too complicated here. A quick email, chat or emoji will do!
Buy a cup of coffee
If you organize a casual coffee among your team, invite everyone to make their own drink.
However, if you’re about to share a coffee to do some networking, or to interview someone, it can be a great idea to send them a cup of coffee before the meeting, or a coupon to go get one.
It’s a simple gesture, but it will give a good first impression and you’ll actually get the feeling that you’re “sharing” that coffee.
You might not be able to enjoy a proper coffee break in person anymore, but you can still plan one.
There are plenty of ways for remote workers and team members to take an occasional social media or video call coffee break from their day-to-day routine.
Consider incorporating virtual coffee into weekly meetings, brainstorming sessions or even interviews and you’ll quickly see the positive effects grounded beans can have!And if you need some tips on how to set up virtual meetings or team building activities, let us know – we have our experts ready and waiting to answer any questions you may have!
