Webex Pictionary, charades, and present opening? That’s the type of Webex meeting I’ll sign up for! 

I work as a full-time remote employee at Cisco. Every day I join meetings over Webex with my colleagues and customers. The fact that I can speak face-to-face with anyone, in any location, is powerful. The fast friendships and working relationships we’ve developed over video conferencing are exceptionally powerful.  

Being a 100% remote worker can be challenging– you don’t always get to engage in those “non-work” conversations as you might when passing colleagues in the office. Managing remote employees can be also be challenging for this reason. That’s why it’s important to remember that a meeting doesn’t always have to be a work-related meeting! 

This summer, we had three full-time remote workers with significant life events happening. Myself included. Two of us had weddings in June. And another colleague was having her first baby. 👶 

A #Webexceptional Bridal Shower

I joined our team meeting like any other meeting, or so I thought… SURPRISE! It was my virtual bridal shower. Colleagues from my team, other teams that I work with, and previous coworkers in Cisco all joined. I was astounded by the thought my teammates put into planning this. 

People took turns speaking, all in different locations. My teammates shared a presentation with pictures, presented me with gifts (virtually), and the best part, we used Webex whiteboarding to play virtual wedding Pictionary! 

After the meeting, my team added me to the Webex Teams space they used for planning the whole thing, so I could see all the love shared. 

I have built personal relationships with people that I have had little to no in-person face time with, all because of Cisco Webex. Webex brings remote teams together every day, but this day was special. 

As I said, I wasn’t the only one getting married. We had to plan another surprise without the other bride-to-be suspecting. Not to mention, the baby shower we had to plan without getting caught! 

Ideas for throwing a successful virtual party using video conferencing 

At Cisco, there is no shortage of celebrating work anniversaries, retirements, weddings, and babies. It’s not uncommon for a Webex Teams space to get started to help plan for an un-expecting coworker. It’s easy to add people, quickly come together to plan, and exchange ideas. 

Here are some of the fun ways we used Webex to celebrate our milestones this summer: 

1.Virtually unwrapping of gifts 

We used PowerPoint to hide pictures of gifts behind images of gift boxes. We had the guest of honor select the present they wanted to open and moved the gift box image to “unwrap” it. Presents underneath were shipped that day. 

2. Games, games, games 

There are a lot of different games you can play using video conferencing. I mentioned that we played Pictionary, breaking the meeting participants into teams. We were also able to play a version of the Newlywed Game and “How well do you know the bride?” for the other surprised bride-to-be. 

My favorite game was playing charades, really using the power of video. Again we split into teams and had individuals participate in a baby-themed game of charades. One captain sent a list of words in the chat panel to the person acting them out, and laughed as we shouted guesses! 

3. Bringing people together 

We’re all busy. And you don’t always get to check in with coworkers from other teams. Invite past and present coworkers from an individual’s career to join using Webex. They don’t need to be with the company to participate, that’s the beauty of collaboration tools. We even had someone join my bridal shower that recently retired. 

Using Webex in fun and unique ways 

Webex makes collaboration possible. It allows everyone to get their work done faster, connect teams and students across the world, create extraordinary outcomes for patient care, and so much more. It’s easy to forget that it is also a tool that can also build strong relationships – relationships with people outside of your geographical location and that you work with every day. It is a tool to help bring remote teams together, build a team culture no matter where you’re located. That is what makes online meetings Webexceptional to me. 

Want to keep your remote teams and workers connected with reliable video conferencing tools? Start with Webex for free today!  

Have you ever had an especially fun meeting on Webex? Or used Webex in a fun and unique way? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!