Tag Archive for: Virtual

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The virtual celebration – one step further

28.05.2021

Virtual celebrating has taken a big leap in the last year, but, how do you celebrate virtually? How do you achieve all the emotions we know from celebrating in real life and set a milestone? That’s where you have to go one step further. Dive into the world of virtual celebration with one of our projects.

The world of virtual celebration

Having circumstantially virtualized every communication with clients and also our workshops due to Covid-19, we were about to hold a graduation ceremony of a 24-month leadership development program with 34 participants in a virtual format. The graduation of such a great program deserves a celebration. The participants need a celebration. A great celebration. Virtual.

Normally, the graduation ceremony would have been a very festive event, with a dinner over several courses, a suitable wine accompaniment, a certificate award ceremony, and speeches held by the CEO and other senior leaders. But how do you “translate” such an interpersonal gathering together with all the important and also powerful emotions into the virtual world? The virtual celebration – one step further.

The organization of the virtual celebration

When we set about designing the virtual celebration together with the client, there were no limits to creativity. The only question was how do we achieve an event feeling in the virtual world?

Since the entire executive program was already hosted on MS Teams, we again chose MS Teams as the event platform. In order to be able to use all Teams functions, such as chat, access to documents, without restrictions, we invited the participants to our Teams environment. We sent out a detailed description with screenshots and conducted a technical check call with the participants to test all call functions.

With a caterer, the organization of a suitable exquisite setting took place: One menu. At home.

So that all participants can celebrate together with their family, we decided to let them participate in the dinner. The participants were sent pizza kits the weekend before the virtual celebration. The idea of having the whole family create and bake their own pizza was well received by both participants with children and singles who invited their friends.

Of course, the drinks were also chosen carefully – a survey on the participants’ favorite drinks was conducted in advance.
The virtual celebration – one step further!

The official part of the virtual celebration

In the finale of the qualification journey, the participants pitched on Best Business Practices. During the official part of the celebration, the 12 people on the shortlist and the 6 winners were revealed. The CEO, the Program Leader of Leadership Development and also the Operations Lead gave speeches that emphasized the appreciation for all participants and the importance of the program for the company.

…And finally it was time to open 34 boxes. There were always 9 names called, who opened their box live in front of the camera and also held their gifts in the camera. The joy evident on the faces was great. And what was in the box? – A personalized certificate, a glass pylon specially designed for this program, and each participant’s individually preferred drink for the occasion.

Pride, enthusiasm, joy, applause, emojis and shining faces – all of it visible at the same time. Screenshots upon screenshots were taken – the photos of the new world. The emotion was there, you could almost touch it. The virtual celebration – one step further.

The informal virtual celebration

After the formal ceremony was over, all program participants had time to reflect on their impressions and change into smart-casual. Then the virtual celebration started. Time and location: 7 p.m., with a drink, in the main room. Music was on from the start.

Six rooms were prepared on MS teams, each with different motto: The Lobby, The Irish Bar, The Open Air Lounge, The Late Night Terrace, The Modern Beer Garden and Light Forest Open Bar. Everyone could “hop” from room to room throughout the evening and spontaneously meet with other participants.

In order to create a realistic visual experience, each participant had received a picture of the respective location in advance, which they were to upload as a background image and change depending on the room they were in. In addition, a drink in the hand, Snacks from a Snackbox beside, much laughter, fun and joyful memories.
That’s how it works: the virtual celebration – one step further.

 

May we also assist you with your virtual celebration?
Please contact us. We are here for you.

 

You shape the future.

This is something we are good at.

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Onboarding Remote

08.06.2020

 

In the spirit of COVID19, Onboarding Remote is currently taking place. In this case two new TCJG guides share their individual, personal experiences with getting to know each other, arriving and taking the first steps on a purely virtual way. True stories about a whole new journey.

Delayed start due to lock-down

It is exciting to start a new job, which involves unfamiliar situations, new co-workers and new projects. …but it becomes even more exciting when you start from a distance and virtually without seeing anyone from the company in the “real world”. Onboarding Remote is what we call it. There we are, Gina and Katharina, who both came to TCJG in Munich during the Corona lock-down. We are both grateful that we were able to take on a new role at a time when most companies are reluctant to hire someone…. “Originally I was supposed to join TCJG in March, but because of the start of the Corona outbreak, this date was postponed and I started in May. This was already an extraordinary challenge for me, as I was not sure if there would even be a chance to join the team. The whole time, from March to May, I stayed in contact with Eva. Our communication was always transparent, open and friendly. That means a lot to me”.

Then just completely without “live”

“I had a completely different start. In fact, I got to know Eva during the Lock Down in a webinar that Eva and our strategic partner Barbara Wietasch held on the topic of “Shared LeaderShift“. The two presented a new leadership concept for organizations that I found unique and had never seen before. I contacted Eva directly after the webinar to see if she was interested in working with me to test this concept with companies. While we got to know each other better, Eva offered me to work in her company. And here I am.”

The first days with Onboarding Remote

On the first day we joined, there were many question marks over how this would work. We both had experiences with Remote Work, but this way of working was completely new for both of us. We asked ourselves how we could prepare ourselves and how we could make this situation as positive as possible. The first week of virtual collaboration with Eva and the team went very smoothly, as it was very structured and well organized: We started every morning with a team call via Zoom, where everyone outlined their current personal situation and their daily goal. We also got to know each team member over a virtual cup of coffee and had short virtual onboarding meetings on MS-Teams with Eva, who introduced us to the company’s vision, customers and projects. All this allowed us a smooth transition into the team, work tasks and work culture. We very quickly felt welcome and included by everyone. This was also helped by the fact that we always had a call at lunchtime where we learned together.

Interpersonal vibrations also come across online

At the beginning we also had a personal conversation with Eva. “I saw Eva for the first time in my life when I came to sign my contract and picked up my laptop in person at the office… It was a nice meeting. I was surprised when I realized that we had the same interpersonal vibrations in person as we did virtually. This is a confirmation that human vibes exist in virtual channels even when using the Onbaording Remote”. “I also came to the office once during the lockdown to meet with Eva and pick up my laptop. It only took a few hours and I was able to start working. The equipment, the account, everything was there and ready to go. …“ It was great to learn how we quickly became familiar with the company’s server and virtual collaboration tools. In case we had a technical challenge we could ask our IT support for help. It was quick and easy.”

Live and in color is still better

Having been with the company for almost a month, we all decided to come to the office on May 25th. It was a nice and warm experience to sit at the same table with all our colleagues in the morning meeting and see each other in real life. Another experience, to be physically so close to the colleagues.
It’s not clear what the future will bring or how long we can work in the office, but we are all looking forward to working together. We two “newcomers” have learned from this onboarding experience to accept new situations as they come, in an open-minded, positive and flexible way. As a takeaway for us, we think that we can overcome any challenging situation by being close and communicating transparently: both onsite and remotely.

What we recommend from our experience
The most important finding is that onboarding remote works well when these concepts are followed.

  • Technical equipment (laptop, access to the company server, collaboration tools, etc.)
  • Regular virtual sprints
  • Structured way of communication and information exchange
  • Getting to know each other via video

We thank the TCJG team and Eva who made this experience so positive and smooth for us and showed such an excellent way of interaction. It’s really fun with you here!