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Friday Fun: Company Sport Programs

Dániel Ballabás - EverIT
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
March 10, 2023

Happy Friday Atlassian Community!

Does your company have programs to support living more healthily? At previous workplaces, we had things like “office fruit baskets” or gym cards, which, being lazy by heart and having other time-consuming hobbies, didn’t really move me.

That changed at EverIT, which has its own special sports program, called Sport Challenge, which even I enjoy very much. Starting during the first wave of the covid lockdowns, to keep the team spirit up, it is a periodical event that will reach its 6th Season this spring. Running 6-12 weeks, we form teams to compete against each other. The challenge is mainly point-based (we earn points based on a formula of doing different sports and the amount of time we do exercise - it can be whatever, even walking counts). It was good because the actual sports could take place in whatever form we choose, but the regular team meetings kept us in contact with each other - and it helped with my own onboarding as well, giving me an opportunity to mingle with people outside of my business unit.

The other half of the points come based on reaching milestones in a story. For the past two events, we had themes to our seasons: Last spring, we followed the story of the Lord of the Rings, with each step we recorded bringing the ring closer to Mordor for example, or counting killed orcs with each kg we lifted. We also had weekly extra challenges, putting goals and extra points for certain extra tasks (like which team could circle the largest areas on the map by hiking or cycling), and breaking the sport cycle, we also have some non-sport related challenges, like finding certain landmarks in our area for selfies (like for Lothlorien, finding the highest tree of your city, or standing in front of a large black gate), and online puzzles on a landing page our game master puts together for the challenges. Yes, at the height of the challenge, we need a half/full-time game master in the form of our security officer, who is also the mastermind behind this whole game. The Autumn season then had a Pirate team, with each team forming a pirate ship, like my team’s Kiwi Caravel.

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Gondor calls for aid!

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The flag and the ship of the Kiwi Caravel team.

In the end, did the Sport Challenge help me reduce my lockdown tummy? Not much, but the trying is what counts, right?

What do you do at your organization? And how does our program sound? Should we open this up for an “Atlassian Partner Olympic”? :smile:

 

12 comments

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Amanda Barber
Community Leader
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March 10, 2023

Oh, wow - this sounds like an amazing program! My company doesn't have anything like this, but I did create a Slack channel for us to chat about our goals, workouts, healthy eating, etc. It's pretty quiet these days and I'd like to find a way to engage more often! 

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Esther Strom
Community Leader
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March 10, 2023

Wow, @Dániel Ballabás - EverIT -that's really creative! We don't have anything fun like that. Our headquarters office (company-owned) has a full gym, including multiple group classes per day, that on-site employees have access to. But for those of us who worked in satellite offices (and now have no office at all; satellites were converted to fully remote) we're on our own.

Our benefits do cover a bare-bones gym membership, and we have a membership with Virgin Pulse, which lets anyone set up team challenges. At the start of the pandemic it was very active, but at this point people have kind of settled into working from home and our own routines, so I don't see a whole lot going on there anymore.

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Kathy Hart
Community Leader
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March 10, 2023

The last company I worked for gave you 20 minutes a day to exercise. And then took part in a Challenge every spring with other organizations in the state to win points and compete. You compete within your own team/org, and then your org was matched against others of similar size. 

It was pretty motivating. 

I've just started a new position, and I'm not sure if we have anything like this yet. I'll have to check it out. 

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Summer Hogan
Community Leader
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March 10, 2023

I work for AAA Insurance and we have a wellness program called Virgin Pulse. Virgin Pulse is an interactive, personalized well-being platform. All employees at my company can earn up to $500 in Pulse Cash incentives by playing level games each quarter, and consistently logging workouts. There are tons of activities, besides logging workouts and steps, that you can do to gain points. There are daily cards that teach you certain things about health and wellness, you can track healthy habits to say if you completed that habit that day or not, you can use the media to watch videos about various health and wellness subjects, you can look at recipes, get annual check-ups, and participate and complete challenges with friends. Then you can go spend your pulse cash in the Virgin Mall or buy gift cards with it! It's such a great program! I absolutely love it! 

virgin_pulse_horizontal_color.png

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Veronique DUFOUR
Contributor
March 11, 2023

The company I work for propose this kind of challenge from time to time.

We tried Virgin Pulse, Oui Live and also Conqueror Challenge. Their are alike but have their particularities. 

I like that I participate whenever I can!

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Brant Schroeder
Community Leader
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March 11, 2023

The company I work for does have a health program but it is up to each department to organize certain aspects of it.  Some departments are active while others are not.  My team is remote so we are terrible at it.  

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Andy Gladstone
Community Leader
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March 13, 2023

I love the way your company implemented these health (physical, mental and emotional) based challenges @Dániel Ballabás - EverIT. A+ for creativity!

My current company has two optional programs for employees, but nothing that is centralized internally.

  1. Our Health Insurance provides up to $200 per six months towards gym membership as long as the participant can show documentation of visiting the gym at least once per week. I have no idea how many people actually utilize this benefit.
  2. We split the cost of a CitiBike membership with any employee that chooses to open a CitiBike Annual Account. We have ~10% of our employees using this, and I am one of the most active. Over the past two years I have racked up:
    • 431 rides
    • 529 miles
    • 77 hours and 55 minutes of ride time
      • All of the abobve has predominately been the last 1.5 miles of my daily commute from Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn to my office at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

I love the CitiBike partnership since it guarantees I start and end my work day with a bit of exercise and stretching of the legs before and after sitting at a desk or on a train for an extended period. It has probably benefitted my mental health more than my physical - and I don't care as long as I feel good about it!

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Dave Mathijs
Community Leader
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March 13, 2023

Our company organizes different sport challenges via our Ambassify program. Right now, they are organizing the Sporty Spring Challenge where they want to encourage everyone, no matter your experience or current physique, to challenge themselves in the sports of your perference. You can join yourself or you can join with a team of colleagues.

Some motivation:

  • Work on your health and collect ambassador points at the same time
  • You get ambassador points by subscribing
  • You / your team receive(s) points every time you participate and register challenge efforts
  • You / your team receive(s) points every time you pass the challenge
  • At the end of spring, a winner and a winning team (based on efforts and goodwill) will get an extra prize
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Juan Carlos Vera
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March 16, 2023

It Sounds Great ;) 

Dan Breyen
Community Leader
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March 17, 2023

You have to get creative these days.  I know more health programs are offering gym incentives.  Many people in our office take a break, and use the makeshift walking path around our warehouse.

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Paul Wiggers
Community Leader
Community Leader
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April 5, 2023

Our company hires a personal trainer two times a week for group sessions in the gym below our office. The session are divided into strength and hiit training and are started during work time. 

Besides that, we have several company coaches that you can book to talk over stuff that is going on. Mental health is just as important as physical health after all.

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Markku Miettunen
Contributor
April 16, 2023

Our company has very active club setup: we clubs for running, golf, padel, shooting, floorball, football etc. Plus chess, wine&dine and knitting, just to mention a few.  

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