Remote Workplace Rituals

When COVID first sent office workers remote, many companies struggled with the decentralization and loneliness of virtual work. Thankfully, at IDEO Chicago, we had a secret weapon to bring serendipity, joy, and creativity into the uncharted landscape of perpetual video land: rituals.

When we were in person in our studio, we could rely on the walls and furniture to create safe boundaries and immersive experiences. When everyone was remote, physical distance became compounded with digital invisibility. We knew we'd need to use digital tools to manufacture proximity, rebuild trust and connection, and mimic the ebb and flow of a good house party. We needed to use digital tools to create "structured serendipity," as counterintuitive as that may sound.

One of the first events we created was the ChIDEO Variety Hour. Inspired by improvisational, slapstick variety shows (think The Muppet Show and old telethons), it was meant to showcase the range of talent and work being done in our remote studio. It felt spontaneous and whimsical thanks to two constraining factors: First, presenters signed up in advance for “on-screen time” — from as little as one minute to as long as 30. Second, two rotating hosts wrote a script for the show and got robust “back of house” support from a team that monitored live technical aspects like timekeeping or moderating chat.

At the first Variety Hour, we had a research share from recent project work, an intermission dance party, and one minute of screaming, to name a few examples. It was the most participatory virtual event we had ever had and quickly became a beloved monthly ritual during the pandemic.

We spun up and iterated many virtual rituals at ChIDEO while we were fully remote, thanks to the creativity and talent of our Workplace Experience teammates at the time, Katie Beach, Jonathan Mueller, and Matthew Gilman-Smith. There was Chance Encounters of the Zoom Kind, a fast-paced breakout room speed-dating-like event, mid-week 10-Minute Dance Parties, an asynchronous Serendipity Scavenger Hunt, a kid-centric Fort Building class, virtual Meet N' Threes, and remote Studio Awards and Portfolio Reviews. These experiments recreated casual collisions for the digital office, providing much-needed reconnection during an otherwise stressful time.

When it was safe to go back to work in person, our rituals morphed and changed to accommodate new needs and contexts. But the lessons I learned about how to create meaningful and well-run remote experiences have stuck with me.

You can read more about a selection of rituals mentioned above in "Rituals for Virtual Meetings: Creative Ways to Engage People and Strengthen Relationships" by Kursat Ozenc and Glenn Fajardo from Stanford University's Ritual Design Lab.