For many people, Christmas is the happiest time of the year—the heartwarming season of gift giving, tacky sweaters, hot chocolate, and watching old Christmas movies with loved ones.
The celebration often extends to the workplace, with decorations, parties, and Secret Santa gift exchanges to share holiday cheer among teams. At AnswerConnect, we’re committed to our remote working model, which has great benefits for our teams and the environment, as well as keeping our operating costs down so we can deliver more value to our clients for a reasonable price. People, planet, and profit—all benefit from remote work!
Delivering happiness
However, working in a remote environment can be isolating at times, and with no company holiday party to attend, some may feel like they’re missing out.
We know that keeping our teams happy is the first step toward delivering the best possible service to you, our clients. When our virtual receptionists feel good, they are more empathetic and friendly to your callers.
AnswerConnect employees decided to combat the remote work holiday blues with a massive holiday gift exchange! 161 employees on 13 teams across 5 states participated in this exchange to add a little more sparkle to a colleague’s holiday.
Elfsters at (remote) work
Manni, one of our client experience associates, felt that the gift exchange was a special addition to the holiday season because “even though our workplace is a remote model, we were still able to have the opportunity of a gift exchange.”
For our secret santa we used Elfster, a free gift exchange website. Gifters can create wish lists for their Secret Santa to view and check out their coworkers’ wish lists for ideas about what to send their gift recipient. The wish list option gave employees the opportunity to share more about themselves with each other, and the chance to learn more about their coworkers. With a budget limit of $10 and a little creativity, AnswerConnect’s elves sent out everything from digital gift cards to handmade treats.
With such a wide range of gift types given and received by so many, our employees experienced the exchange in a rainbow of different ways—but the absolute consensus is that it is the thought that counts. “I was hoping that my teammate would have an additional source of joy for Christmas,” says Kim.
Holiday magic at a distance
Doing a little something nice for a coworker and getting a little something nice in return added an extra touch of holiday magic to our remote team members’ days. Tamara says that the best part of the gift exchange was simply the opportunity to “make someone feel special and appreciated.”
A remote working model doesn’t mean you have to give up on the personal connections that make collaborating with other people rewarding. You just have to find new ways to make those connections. “The ability to do it although we are a remote team made the AnswerConnect family that much more real,” Christina says.
“The ability to do it [make personal connections], although we are a remote team, made the AnswerConnect family that much more real.“
Christina, Answerconnect.
