Office of the Mayor: Staying Connected as a Team

The Challenge

Community is vital to a healthy and productive organization. At work, we all know how important it is to have a team that is comfortable with one another. The Office of the Mayor has a strong team, but not everyone is located in the same space. Furthermore, many spend hours outside of the office in meetings across the city. How can we sharpen community when the team is rarely all in one place?

The Idea

During a staff retreat, the Office of the Mayor came up with an idea called “the question of the week.” Every week, a question is written on the whiteboard in the kitchenette based on suggestions from the office. Members of the team would answer the question on the whiteboard using different color markers, and a picture is taken of the completed board every week. These pictures are collected as a memento of the activity.

The Cost

This project has no cost associated with it beyond the markers to write on the whiteboard.

The Benefit

This idea, sometimes referred to as “colorful connections” or “caffeinated reflections,” provides a centralized discussion for every member of a team that moves across different departments and buildings everyday. Team members who have weeks where they are seldom in their office still have a way to connect to their coworkers, providing essential non-work related communication for everyone. Communication is how we get to community, and this small form of contact has big impacts for a cohesive team.

Metadata

City Department(s): Office of the Mayor

City Department Point(s) of Contact: Devta Kidd

Partner(s): n/a

Type of Innovation: Other

Date Implemented: 2019