Let's stretch together!

Internal communication is very important, isn't it?
When you look up the meaning of communication, you'll find definitions like "exchanging feelings, opinions, etc., through words and other means" and "trying to understand what the other person is thinking."
In a company, the presence or absence of that kind of communication will also affect work performance.
Furthermore, communication plays a significant role in fostering the company atmosphere and building relationships among employees.
This is likely why companies with poor communication are said to have high turnover rates.
When you say "communication," there are many different types, but it's likely that many companies are also experimenting with communication for internal understanding, building better relationships, and fostering teamwork.
This time, we'd like to share an episode where unexpected communication arose from our company's initiatives.

Do something different

Our company holds a general morning assembly every Monday, and the planning and facilitation roles rotate among employees.
The president, of course, and even new employees alike will take turns planning and facilitating.
Also, the project does not necessarily have to be work-related.
For example, some people introduce projects they've worked on with colleagues, some take the opportunity to ask colleagues from other departments with whom they have little regular interaction, some research and introduce things that staff members are currently into, and some use the occasion to share updates they've added to the company wiki.

Just the other day, it was my turn, and I was brainstorming ideas while keeping the following points in mind.
If we're going to do it, we want to do something different from the usual all-hands morning meeting.
We want to create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
・I want to make it something we can do together with our friends
And that's when the idea came to me: "Let's all stretch together! ♪"

Actually, since I’m in charge of back-office tasks like accounting, I don’t have many opportunities to communicate with my colleagues as a member of projects involving branding or website development.
That’s also why I wanted to come up with an activity for the morning meeting that would allow me to interact with everyone, even just a little.

Preparation

One week before the morning assembly, I sent a message in the chat saying, "Please come to the next general morning assembly in comfortable clothing," hinting that "we'll be doing something different."
If I tell them the day before and they give me a grimace, or say "I don't want to do it!", I'd be shocked too.
Just to be safe, we announced again the previous Friday that, "This coming Monday's general morning assembly will include stretching for everyone."
Then, one of my colleagues suggested, “Why don’t we invite the staff from the Philippines office to join us?”
(Our company has an IT outsourcing subsidiary in Manila, Philippines called LH&creatives Inc.)
Partly because of that, we decided at the last minute to connect Japan and the Philippines via video chat so that the whole group could do morning stretches together.

So, on the day itself...

On the day of the event, I’ll be the instructor, demonstrating the movements so everyone can follow along.
It was a strange but heartwarming sight to see the staff in the Japan office, the Philippines office, and those working remotely all moving in unison.
We also tried partner stretching, but since we don't usually grab and support each other's arms and shoulders in our daily work, it was also a valuable！？ first time！？ experience.
I suggested stretching, saying, "Let's do something different from our usual morning meeting," but actually, right up until then, I had been thinking, "I feel kind of bad for putting you all on the spot..."
However, thanks to everyone’s cooperation, we were able to create a warm and friendly atmosphere—one that was different from our usual morning meeting—and even brought out some laughter.
After the morning meeting ended, people started saying things like, “I’m probably going to be sore tomorrow,” or “My ◯◯ hurts.”
Since many of our members are office workers and tend to be sedentary (sweat drop), we've heard comments like, "I want to become more flexible," and "It felt surprisingly good," which unexpectedly sparked communication.
Although it wasn’t intentional, our morning stretches ended up serving as an opportunity for communication across departments and countries.

If you want to foster communication within the company, it might be a good idea to try something a little different from the usual—and do it “together” as a group.
If you keep doing the same things you always do, you’ll only end up communicating with the same people in the same way.
If a company were able to intentionally and strategically create opportunities for this kind of communication, it might become one of that company’s strengths or distinguishing features.
Perhaps the way a small piece of communication spreads throughout the entire company is similar to the way blood flows to every corner of the capillaries.
Try creating opportunities for communication, everyone else should give it a shot too! ♪
I highly recommend stretching.