Let’s face it! You already know that the Squirrly team is acting squirrly sometimes. Last year was great and we had fun, but we want to make 2014 awesome! So, our CEO, Florin, came with a great idea to build engaging games for all the teammates at Squirrly. Don’t worry, we’ll still be doing amazing some work with our products and we’ll still be offering excellent customer service.
This year we want to make a great year both for our customers and for our team. That’s why we’re going to start having Games and Houses at Squirrly.
Last week, Florin came at the office and proposed that we should have more fun this year, by creating our own games. So, he divided the Squirrly team in three Houses. I’m with Cristina, Calin is with Alexandra and Florin is alone (yup, O’bama self). We had one week to decide our House names.
Squirrly Houses
You’ve read Harry Potter or seen the movies, right? So, we will adopt their Houses system, and of course, we will have some points to earn too. So, here are the Great Squirrly Houses: Spitfire, Evergreens and Owlwitch.
Spitfire
Spitfire or The Red Tower is Calin’s and Alexandra’s House, where Alexandra is the HeadMaster.
Evergreens
Evergreens or The Green Tower is Florin’s House. He is awaiting for a new teammate that will automatically enter into his house.
Owlwitch
Owlwitch or Blue Tower is Cristina’s (and mine) House where Cristina is the HeadMaster.
Points and Houses.
So you know that each of us is part of a House. Each month there will be a new Game Master.
This Month, Florin was the Game Master. He prepared us a fun game, based on two parts. The first part revolved around searching for clues, and the second part was about listening carefully.
Searching for clues
Tuesday morning each of us had a secret sticky note. Mine was sticked under the desk, Cristina’s secret note was in the drawer and so on. After reading our secret notes we had to figure out the enigmas. It was really fun to see all of us running through the office finding the next clue. I had somewhere to 3-4 sticky notes hidden through office. And I had even a sticky note that allowed me to have a budget for prizes for the winner(s).
Listening
Thursday morning we had 2 hours for listening. The Game Master chose in secret one of us to be the speaker. The Speaker should said one word (chosen by the Game Master) for 4 times during those 2 hours, without being discovered. If he/she was discovered, his/hers house lost their points. If the rest of the team didn’t discover The Speaker, his/her house would’ve won the points.
Points
We can get Points from:
Games: The Game Master decides how to attribute the points in hers/his game.
All Hands Meetings: we will have general team meetings for which there will be homeworks and stuff to do.
Extra-activites: usual tasks each of us perform + contribution to the products we build/services we offer
Here is the general Points System:
5 points for participation / House
5 points for “X” clue (there were some sticky notes marked with X) / House
3 points for The Speaker Undiscovered House / teammate
1 point for discovering The Speaker by the other Houses / teammate
0 points for The Speaker House if he/her was discovered
This week, Cristina was chosen by the Game Master to be the Speaker. She had to use the “amusesizant” word for 4 times in 2 hours. Don’t try too hard to read the word. Actually it doesn’t exist. It was invented by Florin for describing something very funny. Being his fiance really helped me to figure out who’s the Speaker, but it wasn’t really in my favour. The Speaker was my House Master. I noticed that Alexandra had used the same word but only for 2 times. So, I could’ve voted for her that she was the Speaker, but I decided to vote right and I voted my Head Master as being the Speaker. It wasn’t so bad afterall. I received 1 point for integrity 🙂
The Score
The Towers of the Great Squirrly Houses Score:
Evergreens is the Game Master. So, Florin receives 0 points this month.
Spitfire has 12 points
5 points for participation
5 points for “X” clue
2 points for discovering The Speaker
Owlwitch has 12 points
5 points for participation
5 points for “X” clue
1 point for discovering The Speaker
1 point for integrity
The Prizes
As I said before, some of us received an allocated budget for winner/s. Today we decided to share our prizes 🙂 Afterall it was a tie 🙂
The Grand Prize: End of the Year Award for the Winning House.
In September 2014 we will celebrate 2 Years of Squirrly. At the celebration, the House with the most Points will win a Grand Prize.
So, from now on, the Squirrly team has amazing Games and Houses. Each month will be moderated by a House which will choose the games for the rest of the Houses. Next month the Game Masters are Alexandra and Calin. I can’t wait to see their games.
Let the Best House Win!
