Re:connect: Let's meet again in person
The past two years or so have been a long and arduous period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it hasn’t completely ended yet, as it transitions into an endemic phase (a disease that occurs periodically in a specific region), there’s a growing sense that everyday life is gradually returning to how it was before the pandemic. Since May 2, the requirement to wear masks outdoors has also been relaxed.
From the “Impact Forum,” where we used to share our monthly achievements and updates, andthe ‘Year-End Party’ we used to gather for every year — Wadizhas been pondering, “When would be the right time to resume the in-person company events and training sessions that have been on hold?” Given the current social climate, we’ve decided to create an opportunity for colleagues to meet face-to-face and chat!
What’s more, since the new hires who joined during the pandemic were likely accustomed to online communication via Slack or email, we wanted to create a program that would allow them to meet and interact with colleagues from other teams—especially now that more people are returning to the office—while naturally experiencing theWadiz culture.”
Under the slogan “Re:connect,”we planned a variety of events, and “1W1E” was born with the goal of hosting one event per week.
And so, “1 Week 1 Event” began.
"Coffee Brings Love" by the HR Planning Team and the FE Development Team
April—spring has arrived
The first event to kick things off was the Cherry Blossom Photo Contest, which arrived along with the spring breeze!
This event started with a comment from one of our team members: “It’s finally warm and spring is here—I hope we can all go see the cherry blossoms together.” The event involved team members going outside to take photos with the cherry blossoms in the background and posting them on Slack in exchange for coffee coupons. A whopping 16 teams participated, and the entire chat room was filled with vibrant energy.
It was very meaningful that the Jin-gu kids started doing things “together.”
The Success Support Team's cherry blossom selfie ✌
Our first event in May: Wa-Tabus
In May, Wadizheld a major in-house event to celebrate its 10th anniversary. It was called the “Impact Show.” Since we’ve previously covered the 10th-anniversary event on our blog, here’s a link to that post.
In any case, since we had all gathered to announce our “vision” for the next 10 years, we decided to organize a fun event to enjoy while the excitement was still in the air.
We decided to meet inWadizvirtual space, “Wadaverse.”
We invited the Jin-gu members here to tour the various corners of the virtual Wadiz office
#Three-Line Poem Contest
#Team Photo Zone Snaps
#Tag
We held a variety of events. In particular, the main event—the Wadiz online quiz competition “Waddenbell”—drew the highest number of concurrent participants and received positive feedback, with many noting that it “successfully fostered connections through online gatherings, just as it had offline!”
“A virtual space for our company! I explored it all over and even showed it off to my family.”
“It was so much fun gathering with the Jin-gu members online, dancing together, and taking a quiz about Wadiz.”
The Jinguk members gathered in the Watabus Grand Hall
May's Small Gathering: "Coffee Brings Love..."
Following the first event where we gathered with our own team members, we’ve now created an opportunity to meet up with other teams to eat and chat. It’s a sort of “coffee chat” where you can request to meet a specific team, and we’ll match you up to set up the gathering.
A total of 23 teams participated—it was so popular that one team even had 20 members. It was a great opportunity for everyone to better understand what the other teams were working on.
“We shared great ideas, empathized with each other’s work challenges, and had a short but meaningful time together.”
“Now that we’ve talked things through, I think we’ll be able to work together in a much better atmosphere from now on.”
“It was even more fun because the two teams, who hadn’t had much opportunity to interact before, got to meet! Even though it was a short time, we were able to gain a better understanding of each other’s work.”
An early summer picnic in June: “Do you like rice?”
Among the feedback we received regarding the “Cherry Blossom Photo Event” and “Coffee Carries Love,” which took place in April and May, some participants mentioned that because so many people gathered at once, they “didn’t have enough time to talk.”
So this time, to give a small group of people a chance to share more stories,
We held an "Early Summer Picnic" event where groups of three or four employees from different departments could get together for a meal.
Once again, we had a great turnout. As we worked on the mission of finding things we had in common while enjoying a delicious meal and engaging in lively conversation, it felt like a wonderful opportunity to build positive connections with our colleagues at Wadiz.
“We’ve been in different places and haven’t had a chance to see each other, so it was really nice to have this opportunity to spend some time together.”
“It was such an honor to meet new people at our early summer picnic! Let’s have lunch and dinner together often in the future! It was such a happy time getting to know all of you wonderful people!”
“It was a wonderful time for members of various teams to meet with Pro-nim, enjoy some great food, and share stories about our lives. Let’s keep in touch!”
Thanks to the HR Planning Team’s hard work in the second quarter,
Wadiz“Happy Office Life Index” has improved by +100.
It was a great opportunity to experience the Wadiz culture, where the value of “togetherness” is so important. I look forward to even more opportunities in the future—both online and offline—where we can come together and work while enjoying each other’s company!
