Last week we brought you stories about how the Belgravia teams are finding resourceful ways to keep in touch with one another through virtual check ins or social events. As we are approaching the one-month mark since we had to temporarily close our centres, it is more important now than ever to encourage teams to remain connected.

While Microsoft Teams and Lifesize are the most widely used video conferencing and communication software at Belgravia, some team members may not have easy access to these programs. Here are some other suggested applications and activities that teams can use for group catch ups.

Group Video Catch Ups

HouseParty is a free social networking app that allows up to eight people to video chat in one “room”. Users can have infinite rooms and easily float between rooms.

Zoom is a free video conferencing program that allows up to 100 participants in one video meeting but has a 40-minute limit on group meetings.

Team Chat Applications

Whatsapp is a free app that can be used by anyone with a smartphone. It’s easy to great group chats in Whatsapp and can also be used to share audio, video or photos.

Skype is a free, easy-to-use application that has been around for a long time and allows teams to communicate one on one or in a group. You can use Skype for instant messaging, voice or video calls.

Marco Polo is an app that allows users to create videos for team members to send to one another in a chat. It’s a great tool for teams to share short snippets of their day, if they can’t commit to a lengthy conversation in video chat.

Some ideas for your teams’ social catch ups

• Write up your travel bucket lists for when lock down is lifted and share with your team over a cup of coffee online
• Choose five icebreaker questions from this list and share your answers in a group chat or on a video catch up.
• Play an online game like Scrabble, Uno, Trivia or 8-ball Pool
• Host a Watch Party on Facebook for your team. You can share emojis, gifs and comments during the party.
• Give your team members a peek into one another’s homes. You can provide a grand tour or just showcase our favourite room in the house.

We hope you and your team will find this toolkit helpful to stay connected and engaged during this temporary lock down period, paving the way for stronger relationships within our teams when we are allowed to re-open our centres.