Team Culture Taking a Hit? Try Creative Interventions.

A pirate ship with sails crafted entirely of espresso. That’s what Zelia, our account manager, shared in response to the prompt Create a finger painting using any material you have on hand. My laugh at the dark-roast plank coming off the stern upstages the story she’s telling about it on our agency-wide Zoom call. I surprise even myself with how I feel the tension in my jaw relax. My attention darts to the other thumbnails — strategists, designers and project managers at Gershoni — who have had a similar feeling of amusement and connection. Possibly, even you have a small sense of relief just hearing about it. That’s what play can do. And it’s why our agency started Creative Interventions, a series of midday mini-experiments in productivity, community and flow.

We asked ourselves: Can intermittent distractions actually make teams more focused?

Answer: Yes. And more fun, too.

Let’s face it: Working from home can be frustrating. We’re parked at our kitchen tables, with little sense of belonging and few avenues for self-expression. In early April, we saw a sort of lethargy take hold in our internal Zooms as the chatter of days past…