Although the FormAssembly team has been working remotely with teammates spread out all over the globe for more than a decade, we’ve still had to make adjustments as a team to navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
For example, in years past, the FormAssembly team has traveled from far and wide to gather in person for our annual all-team reunion—a week of team building, planning, and simply getting to know our coworkers better. Because travel and in-person gatherings weren’t in the cards this year, the FormAssembly team participated in a fully virtual all-team reunion with a variety of fun virtual team-building activities and events. Read on to learn how we did it!
Virtual reunion planning
Planning an entire week-long reunion for 100+ team members from all over the world is never an easy feat, and this year’s virtual reunion required some extra creativity and flexibility from all participants. To start, FormAssembly’s Event Coordinator, Hayley McNitt, used FormAssembly to build a survey for teammates to fill out in order to gauge interest in a wide range of virtual activities and events.
“Upon initial talk about a virtual reunion, I was worried about how I was going to differentiate a week-long event from just any other video conference happy hour,” Hayley said. “I quickly realized that the silver lining of the pandemic was that all of our favorite activities transitioned one way or another into virtual opportunities. I was re-invigorated about planning a fun and interactive week for our team, complete with activities showing up to our doorsteps! We suddenly weren’t limited to our surroundings.”
Hayley then used FormAssembly to build a reunion activity sign-up form so that each team member could easily select the reunion activities of their choice.
Based on activity sign-up responses, Hayley created a reunion schedule where each member of the team could find their daily reunion activities based on their local time zones. In the week leading up to the reunion, FormAssembly teammates received tracking emails and packages with supplies for all of their virtual reunion activities.
“I was able to utilize FormAssembly in the planning process to survey the team on the most appealing activities, collect sizes for swag, and gather contact information for shipping. We all had an awesome time, despite being miles and time zones away. I would definitely recommend interactive team events like this to other companies,” Hayley said.
Virtual reunion activities
With a team of more than 100 individuals spread out across six continents, not everyone has the same interests and hobbies, so there were plenty of activities to choose from during reunion week. Breakout activities and lunch meetings gave teammates the opportunity to chat with teammates who have similar interests. We also socialized with happy hours, game nights, wine and beer tastings, and even a FormAssembly talent show!
FormAssembly teammates say “cheers” during a virtual wine tasting with Voluptuary Wine!
The foodies on the FormAssembly team got crafty in the kitchen with baking and cooking classes from Fēst.
Members of the FormAssembly team also participated in a virtual Poker tournament, a beer and cheese tasting, a virtual mission fitness challenge, a macrame workshop with Makers Mess, a virtual game show, workout classes, and an escape room!
The FormAssembly 2020 virtual reunion provided plenty of great opportunities for our team to spend time together and get to know each other better. As always, we came out of the reunion stronger as a team, feeling encouraged about all the exciting things to come for FormAssembly!
Want to learn more about the FormAssembly team? Visit our team page to learn more about us. If you’re interested in being a part of FormAssembly, check out our current job openings here.
