Water cooler convos
Water cooler talk is essentially the opposite of business talk. While business talk focus strictly on work and work-related matters, water cooler conversations are born out of serendipity, the art of chitchat, and our own personal affairs, and as it turns out, we might be onto something.
Research shows that talking about hobbies and interests isn’t just fun, it helps us do our jobs. Sharing our interests can be more productive than talking about work. Research has shown repeatedly that brainstorming about work during breaks makes employees less productive.
But research also shows that talking about non-work topics during breaks doesn’t make employees less productive. In fact, it seems to have the opposite effect. People return to work feeling refreshed, and that helps them stay productive.
Perhaps these positive effects are just because the water cooler conversation is more relaxing and less taxing. Or maybe it's that talking about non-work topics helps people see connections between their work and their interests. Either way, when employees have frequent chats with their colleagues, it not only improves their mood, it improves their work.
Get started on water cooler convos in chat
Casual conversation between peers is possible now in chat.
The watercooler command sends conversation starters to a channel or room where anyone can jump in.
Type @DailyBot watercooler to get conversation starters in a channel, you can all respond via thread.
- Anyone can set up a "virtual water cooler" by running @DailyBot watercooler in a public channel.
- DailyBot will send conversation starters on the selected days.
watercooler help
watercooler: Set up water cooler questions somewhere in the chat (public channels)
watercooler off: Turn off the automatic questions somewhere in the chat.
FAQs
- Periodicity is weekly. Participants can choose whether to activate this command on regular weekdays or on custom days.
