The festive months in India have begun. Until last year, October-November used to mark the beginning of a time when there would be fewer and fewer dull moments in the office. Plans for Navratri and Durga Puja, plans for Diwali would be under full swing, with the workplace staying decked up all through these couple of months. In the crisp pre-winter air, dressing up, having good food and having office parties was something many of us looked forward to. A lull for a few weeks gave us some post-festival blues, but before we had the time to get over it, Christmas and New Year would come next! But now, we have a different situation. The big C is still here. We thought it would go away, but it hasn’t. Although a lot of us are back in the office, it is just not the same.
Forget post-festival blues, we might get festival blues now! After all, how does one celebrate when there are so many precautions to be taken, so many guidelines to be followed and amidst the many pieces of unpleasant news we hear on daily basis?
While precautions and guidelines will need to be followed, we can still celebrate the festive season in our own little safe ways. There is scope for a socially distanced party. Here are some more some ideas to celebrate festivals with your co-workers amidst the pandemic.
Let us take a look!
Have A Virtual Party:
By now, most of us would be familiar with virtual meetings and virtual conferences and virtual interviews. Might as well get familiar with a virtual party!
When one has been using virtual platforms for all things work, it is easy to forget that those very platforms can be used as a way to have fun.
Organizing virtual events where talented employees perform can be a fun and a safe way to have a party. Send out a nice and blingy virtual invite, fix a festive dress-code, fix the slots and we have a talent evening right there! Singing, mimicry, stand up comedy, poetry…anything as long as everyone is having fun!
Have A Competition….At Your Own Homes:
Few of the many things people might be missing are the decorations, the Rangolis, and in many cases, the in-office Rangoli competitions.
Well, who said we need to be together to compete?
Employees can decide upon a theme, decide who should be the judge, maybe even fix the colours they are allowed to use, pick a corner of their house and create the Rangolis! Then they can upload the photos on the company’s social media pages, or even just share amongst the colleagues. And here we have a full fledged Rangoli competition!
If one is missing the decorations, one might even have a decoration contest. Employees may pick a corner of their homes, decorate it with all the creativity, share the photos, and again, similar to the Rangoli competition, can share photos and get into a fun competition!
The ideas are endless when we realise a lot can be done together, even when we are apart!
Gifts and More Gifts!
Thanks to this very convenient technology of online shopping and shipping, gifting and buying gifts is still something that has not been affected too much amidst the new normal.
A simple thing like receiving a lovely festive hamper at one’s doorstep can be a huge mood booster. (Maybe the winners of all those virtual competitions can get an extra package delivered to their doorstep!)
It is thus such simple ideas which can help us feel festive in the new normal. It is time we make an even better use of technology. It is time we make a festive use of technology!
One might feel there is not much to celebrate; that the festivals are just not the same this time; that everything reminds of the times we are living in. But as we have talked about in one of our previous articles, celebrating the little things in little ways can go a long way in keeping up everyone’s spirits.