Better Together
What do you do at work that isn’t… work? Seriously, all those in-between goof-off moments, catch-up conversations, and inspiration walks, everything that isn’t on your calendar – that is what we are covering in this issue of The Water Cooler. Why? Because we love Wipro’s community and believe fun should be encouraged at work!
What is happening now
There are many kinds of offices in the world. Some are built in warehouses or skyscrapers, some have formal dress codes or no dress code, some are hectic and loud, and some are peaceful and serene. Even Wipro has many kinds of offices in the Americas, but something you may notice if you could magically visit them all is that our employees are great at bringing their personalities in with them. This may not seem remarkable, but creating space for others to show up authentically in their professional space is one way that the Operations Department supports community building.
What does this look like? In Toronto, that shows up as a second year organizing the Toronto Cricket League and choosing the overall theme “The Endangered Species” for their team mascots as a reminder of our responsibility to the planet. In Mexico, it’s an informal weekly Mario Cart tournament on Friday afternoons. In East Brunswick, there are regular games of pool on the 16th floor. In Montreal, they meet for an office-wide lunch every two months, and the Halloween costume contest at the lunch in October is taken very seriously. In New York employees are known to take the picnic blanket and enjoy a live performance hosted on the Bryant Park lawn outside. On Teams, dedicated members of the Women of Wipro ERG join monthly for book club and discussion. Which is to say – it looks like whatever you are interested in!
Each of the mentioned activities and groups (among the many not mentioned) reflects the current interests of our employees and what they want to get involved in. Local Operations and HR teams work with leadership to organize activities and events for employees regularly, but the most successful ones are directly inspired by employees. Sometimes all it takes is finding out that someone watches the same tv show as you or really wants to try the same new restaurant to identify something you want to explore, but if you ever do find yourself in the situation of wanting to add something to the office calendar or for just a little support for an interest group…
“Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”
Encouraging new
Share with us! Your local event planning committees would no doubt be so glad to hear from you and about your employee engagement ideas. Don’t know where to start? We can help with that too:
1. Workshop your idea – dream big!
Discuss your idea with colleagues who you think would be interested
Would be physically feasible in your local office?
Bonus: does your idea encompass the five habits in some way? (Being Respectful, Being Responsive, Always Communicating, Demonstrating Stewardship, Building Trust)
2. Make a mini proposal – get creative!
How many people are already interested? Does this echo or expand upon past events that were successful?
What support might you need?
Is something similar in the past or currently happening than you want to expand on?
3. Share proposal with local team – be brave!
Start by reaching out to your office’s administrator with a brief description of the idea and supporting materials you’d like the event planning committee to consider
Be open to tweaks and alternate ideas
You might not be successful with your first attempt, but you still get points for trying!
4. Follow through – game time!
If your idea gets picked up, be ready to take ownership of this project or support on a larger team
Bask in the glow of your shared success and take lots of pictures to share on our IOPS site!
In this season of returning from summer travels and finding our routines again, we just hope you will schedule in some time for personal enjoyment both in the office and out.