What We’re Doing As a Team

FreshWorks pivoted to 100% of team members working remotely almost overnight last week. Despite having been remote-friendly for a while we still required some adaptation to move forward effectively. What did we do?

• Created dedicated channels for communication on COVID-19

• Prepared helpful resources for working effectively while having fun in isolation

• Created virtual social spaces and quickly adapted in person rituals to work remotely

We’re delighted to share some things we’ve done in hopes they might be useful for you and your team as well.

Staying Connected – Virtual Social Spaces

Daily Virtual Lunch Room

Using Google Hangouts, a permanent link was created to create opportunities for our team members to continue to socialize even when working remotely. Anyone can join when on lunch or taking a quick breather between tasks.

Friday Virtual Happy Hour

We ran our first virtual happy hour at 4pm on Friday afternoon. Even in isolation, everyone can still have a drink together.

Demo Days

These used to be done in person every month at our office. This week we’ll be running our first virtual demo day so the entire team can tune in and see what people have been working on.

#Quaranteam Photo Gallery

What does the WFH life look like? We created a photo gallery for everyone to share pictures that help paint a picture of each other’s lives.

Dedicated Communication Channels

Google Site

Our google site contains links to the official news channels we want the team to pay attention to, and helpful resources our own team members share with each other. More info in our other article on What We’re Doing as a Company.

Video Updates

We do regular video updates to help navigate the rapidly evolving situation and provide reassurance on our stability as a company and our strength as a team.

Slack Channel – #C-19_Chatter

We created a Slack channel for #C-19_Chatter where everyone can share helpful information from other trusted news sources or dispel rumours and fake news. This helps keep our team informed and connected.

Slack Channel – #C-19_Memes

Another dedicated Slack channel. Of course we need to maintain vigilance and treat the situation seriously, but there’s no sense pretending we don’t still have a sense of humour.

Working Remotely – Having Fun and Being Effective

Having Fun

We put together a document with some ways everyone can inject a little more fun into working remotely. Check it out for yourself.

Remote Collaboration Tips

We also provided tips for our team with practical information on how to enhance remote collaboration,, tips for WFH, and resources provided by the team. Our documentation and tips are often specific to our tools or processes, but we’ll include some of those tips in a separate article on Tips and Tricks for Working Remotely. 

Checking In & Mentorship

We have a mentorship program at FreshWorks, and this has been invaluable during this time. Each team member has someone to turn to if they are having trouble navigating this unfamiliar situation.