There's drinks and a trivia competition. People chat, they break out into small groups to reach consensus and the Quiz Master keeps the curly questions coming.
It's all about keeping team members connected while they're physically apart, when colleagues at UNE's School of Psychology get together - virtually - these days.
A social committee established BC (before coronavirus) is coming into its own since opportunities for "water cooler chat" have dried up. Now called the Happiness Committee, it's a rebranding of the group Belinda Craig and colleague Suzie Cosh developed long before COVID-19 called a halt to in-person social fun.
BC, the pair - both lecturers - would schedule after-work drinks, themed lunches for events such as Chinese New Year, St Patrick's Day and Oktoberfest, and monthly birthday gatherings in the tearoom. In these times of social distancing, the Happiness Committee has switched to an online platform.
Head of the school, Professor Debra Dunstan, says she was already a big supporter of the committee's efforts, but sees it playing an even more important role while staff can't have those incidental conversations in their workplace.
"Working in academia can be very isolating," she says. "It started as a way to bring staff out of their offices and to encourage the collaboration that is an important ingredient of our work.
"I have now endorsed Belinda and Suzie to be even more proactive in encouraging social engagement within our team. We have a number of staff who live alone, and I think such opportunities are important for their welfare and wellbeing."
Some 20 or so staff members have been reaching out across the physical divide.
Getting down to no business
Meanwhile, staff in the UNE Business School have begun a regular social hour on Zoom, where they come together to talk all things "business-unrelated".
They, too, recognise the importance of social interaction in this new era of work where people are not chatting in the tea-room or corridors.
In one recent session, staff discussed the cooking and creative projects they've been trying at home - and even enjoyed Associate Professor Nam Hoang’s singing and guitar playing.
Structure and socialising
Back in the School of Psychology, the social fun continues outside of Zoom, too.
"We're trying to organise an event every fortnight, but in the meantime we've set up different channels on Slack to share memes, pet photos and what people are up to," Suzie says. "It's completely social; no work chat. We're mindful that some people don't enjoy a lot of social interaction, so we want to give them a place to socialise and talk."
Belinda says the new ways in which remote teams are getting together - while necessary and valuable - generally lack a social dimension.
"We are now having all these Zoom meetings, but most are focused on work and fairly structured," she says.
I didn't realise how much work was a social outlet, until it was gone.
"Hopefully the Happiness Committee can keep us all in touch in a way that works and benefits our health."
