Like for many other young people, our training started in September 2020. After about half a year of the pandemic and unusual circumstances, it finally meant we could start our professional lives. Since the corona situation had eased a bit during summer, it was easier to get together with the other trainees. From a joint lunch break on the first day to our first get-together a few weeks later – it was perfect to be able to discuss things and chat. However, the Corona situation was not making it easy for us and the long-awaited team event had to be cancelled in the end. Nonetheless we came up with a creative alternative.
The date for a joint team event was set for October. Something we were really looking forward to, because this gives the trainees a chance to get to know each other better, exchange ideas and simply have a bit of fun together, away from work. Unfortunately, Corona quickly threw a spanner in the works.
Since the whole company was slowly switching to home office and we could no longer see each other at all as a result, we had to think of an alternative. In January, we finally came up with the idea of an online team event. Due to the fact that situation was rather difficult and we couldn’t really spend time together in our trainee team, why not use the best available tool: the internet. Ideas were quickly gathered – how could we organise such an event? When do we plan it for and how can we make it a successful evening? A date was then set and we started looking for suitable online games. With games like Escape Room, Monday Painter, Town Country River and Gartic Phone (silent mail), we were finally ready for the evening.
On Friday, 26 February 2021, the time had come and we all gathered in front of our laptops at 6:30 pm and the games evening could begin. We started with a short round of Monday Painter, which of course lightened the mood a bit. After that, we made our way through an Escape Room. We split up into two groups and tried to finish the game as quickly as possible which was quite tricky. – After an hour, both groups were finished. This was followed by Gartic Phone – a game based on misunderstandings. It comes from the idea of the well-known “silent mail”. Everyone gives a sentence and the next person has to paint it. The painted picture then has to be described again, which had to be drawn again. Since it goes on like this until the end, funny mistakes naturally occur, which made us all burst out laughing. After we finished the second round, we moved on to Town Country River. However, to make it a bit funnier, we came up with our own categories. This game also provided many laughs and was a lot of fun. The evening then ended as it began: with a round of Monday Painter – where, of course, exceptionally funny works of art were once again created.
Shortly before 12 midnight, the successful evening came to an end and after a short farewell, we ended the 5 ½ hour meeting. We are already looking forward to the next event!
Author: Trainees IBC SOLAR, 1st year