We started 2022 with a team of 12 people and that was a big change to the two-man shop that Optemization was for most of 2021. In the past, I’ve built a few in-person teams while at NYU and I loved cultivating a sense of care for the work and each other in the team. Achieving this was more-less straightforward with in-person teams but it’s a different ball game when remote or hybrid.
At Optemization, the team was built remote-first. To this day, I only met one of my co-workers but I hope to meet more soon. It’s tough because we don’t have enough free cash flow to organize a retreat and I have visa requirements that prevent me from traveling freely.
Anyway, for us, two particular Slack bots helped bring the team together in spirit.
1) HeyTaco
This bot lets teammates give each other tacos by including their usernames and a 🌮 in any message. Everyone gets to give up to five tacos per day and these are then tallied in a leaderboard. They can also be redeemed for gift cards and digital purchases. It’s a fun way to promote gratitude and appreciation for fellow teammates.
2) Kona
This bot provides a way for teammates to share their well-being and mental health via a red-yellow-green check-in. It’s like an asynchronous standup but instead of tasks, teammates share their feelings and the context behind them. There is some handy analytics that use this data to determine the risk of burnout across your team.
Both of these bots are very simple but I believe that they made a significant impact in shaping a culture of care, compassion, and recognition at the company. I would highly recommend these tools to any team, remote or not.
