enable opportunistic meetings around a virtual coffee machine room
This is idea is similar to "Random 15´ coffee meetings" but different in that it is always available and also how one implements it. To create that opportunistic chat with a colleague one doesn't normally interact with but still need to align with or bounce ideas off occasionally, there is a need for a presence/video enabled virtual room that is always available. E.g. one can fall back into the virtual room in between normally scheduled virtual meetings. It could be enabled by default or toggled on/of. It should be able to tune which colleagues are available to you based on your Microsoft Office/Teams interaction history and your colleagues own interest/availability in using the virtual coffee machine room. It should be possible to customise it by adding individuals or groups of individuals. Initially, the feature could start with a user-created list of contacts.
With this feature, people in large organisations can help keep communication open across organisation boundaries and help keep the innovative spirit alive whilst also helping people build networks across the organisation.
Conor White
shared this idea
9 comments
-
Chris
commented
We found that working from home was missing these serendipitous chats that you would usually have in a workplace. We are working on a feature just like this in our team's app https://coffeepals.co/. I think this idea would be a great addition to our existing watercooler/coffee match up feature set. We want to work with users to figure out exactly what people want. Sign up on our site to get early access and help us figure out what people like you need!
-
Anonymous
commented
so, I create a coffee channel on my group in teams. In that channel, I create an all-day meeting. That meeting is repeating everyday. That's my coffee area. If you want tables, you can make breakout meetings inside the coffee meeting.
This is my way. I have to confess my unexperienced way so far.
-
Anonymous
commented
When we have clearly defined tasks we are working on, the home office works just fine. On the other hand, when we are starting up new tasks, we are missing the coffee machine, where one can randomly meet colleages and discuss. The described feature of a virtual coffee machine room would address this issue. Yes please, we need this!
-
Anonymous
commented
We need this also for a virtual cafe where you can chose which table to join depending on who is "standing" at that table, just like the normal friday drink. Now our friday drink is with everybody in the same chat, terrible
-
Anonymous
commented
I was looking if it was avaialble on teams and saw this...we need it!
-
Anonymous
commented
Or virtual locations, eg. water cooler, coffee machine, lunch/dinner-cafe, parking lot, etc. where attendees can join fixed quantity 'spaces', and interact with other random collaborators in their company's (virtual) area. It might also be helpful to give each user the option to set a timer for themselves when joining each type of venue, with typical spans for the location, i.e. 5-10-15 for coffee/water, and 15-30-60 for meals, et alia.
-
Carl de Billy commented
Just a coffee-room channel, like an "always-on" meeting where anybody can join/leave as they wish just to socialize would be enough, too. Specially during a forced-remote work like during this pandemic.
-
Deb
commented
This is a nice idea Conor ! We need it !!
-
Anonymous
commented
I like the idea!