In March 2020, the country went into a national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This lead to a lot of uncertainty for businesses and a lot of companies adapting to a new ‘Work From Home If You Can’ scenario (WFH). Cut to January 2021 and we’re in our third lockdown in less than a year.
Working From Home in 2020
In a survey done for the Office for National Statistics, 27% of the people who were asked were working from home in November 2020. The IT industry in particular had 72% of people working remotely.
Now Working From Home can lead to a number of different things. In a survey done by Finder, 30.9% of workers said they struggle with loneliness working remotely. As human beings, we crave human interaction. When you’re working at home this can be difficult, particularly if you live alone. If you’re trying to homeschool or look after young children whilst trying to work, this can be highly stressful.
One industry that was hit the hardest was the Events Industry. Without people to attend your event, you have no event! So many events companies adapted and Virtual Events were introduced.
By the end of October 2020, after a pretty rubbish year and Christmas looking bleak, employees needed something to look forward to. As the traditional meal and drinks couldn’t happen, there was a huge boom in Virtual Christmas Parties! With activities such as Virtual Cocktail Making or a Virtual Pub Quiz, teams were able to still get together and do something fun.
Now, like a puppy, Virtual Events aren’t just for Christmas. Our third lockdown is in place and easing of restrictions is looking unlikely until at least Spring. It’s never been more important to boost your teams morale.
What Are The Benefits Of Virtual Events?
- Motivation for your team and in turn, enhanced productivity when working from home.
- Social interaction with your team which can prevent isolation and loneliness
- Opportunity for Team Building with activities which encourage communication and logical thinking
- Positive Reinforcement – sometimes you just need to give your team something to keep them going
- Promotes engagement within the workforce and enables your team to communicate with team members they wouldn’t normally interact with.
In short, Virtual Events look like they’re here to stay and when live events do come back, Virtual has paved the way for hybrid events which can combine the two. If you want to keep your team motivated and productive throughout the pandemic, interactive engagement will be key for your company.
