Employees take a plant for a walk day.
Recently, I discovered the special 27th of July has been designated as, “Take your plant for a walk day”1.
Okay, what is up with this you say?
Yes, it is true, on the July 27th every year people are encouraged to take their house plants for a walk. Just like it sounds, pickup a plant from inside and take it outside for a stroll around the block. Apparently, the change in environment is good for both the plant and the people. Both plants and people sense the change in environment to the benefit of both.2,3
Wow, the imagery of seeing people outside all carrying house plants does seem to be a strange and humorous activity which would bring a smile to my face. Well, really, I couldn’t image the person carrying the plant without a smile either… hmmm maybe there is something here.
In the late 16th century, when Hugh Platt wrote his book, “The jewell house of arte and nature”, about the practice of growing house plants, soon after people in England were highly excited about house plants. This affection and connection to plants in their lives continues with many people today.
Now imagine getting together with your neighbour on this walk with your plants. Okay, you know this will be a funny and joyful event. Both driving deeper connections with your neighbour and gaining the many benefits from walking outside.
Hold on one minute, could this be good at your place of work?
Well, according to a McKinsey4 finding, nature does boost team creativity and performance. They do highlight team activities in extreme natural settings away from phones and other technology, but this surely would carry over to smaller events like a plant stroll.
Perhaps some benefits would be gained from a small 10-15 minute event something similar to:
Employees take your plant for a walk day…
Yes, you can see this happening…
Smiling employees in groups walking outside, each with a plant in hand. Different times of the day, different groups going out, connecting, talking, building positive working relationships. Harvard reported, “Rituals—even seemingly silly ones—help employees bond and add meaning to their work”5.
Okay, but what if employees don’t have plants sitting on their desks? Well, we have a solution with the Modern Sprout® Tiny Terracotta for the desk of every employee.
Modern Sprout® Tiny Terracotta – Daisies
Modern Sprout® Tiny Terracotta – Clover
Imagine these fun little plants on every employee’s desk with a fun saying and corporate branding connecting everyone together.
Pick your own day for Employees take your plant for a walk day and make it a special celebration for your company. Build your team connections, productivity and many other benefits while having some fun. Also, that plant on the desk will be a continued reminder of that fun. Make it a yearly or even monthly day of celebration and connection.
What if for some reason some of the desk plants need some help through the year? Simple, put a group of employees together as the plant rescue squad which can offer assistance to the plants in need and connection to the employees who own the plant. Yes, another ongoing opportunity to foster communication and connection amongst your teams.
This very simple and effective concept can certainly grow (“yes intended”) in many directions to the benefit of your employees and company.
Of course, you can see where this can go…
Our team is here to help your team with execution and help provide many other creative solutions to build your corporate culture and benefit your company.
Please do reach out to our team at Durham Promotional Products for items like this and/or other creative solutions to engage and connect with your workforce and customers. We excel at creating smiles, increasing productivity, and providing overall stronger corporate cultural bonds with our creative solutions.
Sources:
1. https://nationaltoday.com/take-your-houseplant-for-a-walk-day/
2. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/understanding-plants/how-plants-sense-the-environment
3. https://www.bbcearth.com/news/plants-have-feelings-too
4. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/extremely-out-of-office-let-nature-boost-your-teams-creativity-and-performance
5. https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/rituals-at-work-teams-that-play-together-stay-together