Workplace Team Building Exercise
At my new job, which I love, we're encouraged to do whatever we want with our lunch hour. We also happen to have awesome computers because we do video editing and compositing which is CPU, RAM, and video card intensive. My first day on the job a couple of guys in the office came up and asked, "Do you game?" Obviously I do. Thanks to daily virtual warfare sessions over lunch we quickly became friends.
Some days it's an inner-office match of Modern Warfare but most days it's all about team games in StarCraft 2. It's never happened before but I now have regular 2v2 and 3v3 partners. Talking strategy and executing fun builds with my co-workers never gets old. Not to mention that winning as a team feels great.
Our boss, who also heads the company, knows all about our lunch time gaming and encourages it even while poking fun at us. The other day he walked by as we were in the middle of an intense SC2 battle and asked me, "So, Void, working hard?" to which I replied, "Oh, you know, just enjoying a team building exercise." It was an offhand joke but it got me thinking.
Playing SC2 at work every day actually is a team building exercise. In only a few weeks I was totally comfortable with all of my fellow gamers at work. They came to see me as part of the team and I felt included. Usually it takes much longer than a couple weeks for that feeling of belonging to settle in.
Games give us a chance to bond. They give us common ground on which to start a conversation. They make us think and plan and learn to work together. They give us a chance to vent our frustrations and talk smack. They give us reason to revel in our victories together. Games bring us closer to one another. Isn't that amazing?
Some days it's an inner-office match of Modern Warfare but most days it's all about team games in StarCraft 2. It's never happened before but I now have regular 2v2 and 3v3 partners. Talking strategy and executing fun builds with my co-workers never gets old. Not to mention that winning as a team feels great.
Our boss, who also heads the company, knows all about our lunch time gaming and encourages it even while poking fun at us. The other day he walked by as we were in the middle of an intense SC2 battle and asked me, "So, Void, working hard?" to which I replied, "Oh, you know, just enjoying a team building exercise." It was an offhand joke but it got me thinking.
Playing SC2 at work every day actually is a team building exercise. In only a few weeks I was totally comfortable with all of my fellow gamers at work. They came to see me as part of the team and I felt included. Usually it takes much longer than a couple weeks for that feeling of belonging to settle in.
Games give us a chance to bond. They give us common ground on which to start a conversation. They make us think and plan and learn to work together. They give us a chance to vent our frustrations and talk smack. They give us reason to revel in our victories together. Games bring us closer to one another. Isn't that amazing?
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