SageFox has team members across Massachusetts, in northern Vermont, North Carolina, and Virginia and, although we’ve been in virtual space for a few years now, we are still trying to find new ways to connect as a team. Building camaraderie across a virtual organization while also preventing “Death by Office Chair'' led a group of us to establish the “SageFox Foxtrot.” This group sets individual step goals for each working day with the shared goal of total steps. For example, our first goal was to walk to Keene, NH the mind-point of the Foxtrot members. We blew through that goal in the first month taking almost a million steps!
The Foxtrot group is a great way to motivate exercise. Having the space to record our efforts and see our colleagues’ progress makes it easier to take those extra steps. It’s also a great way to build some camaraderie in a remote work environment. The group has its own google spaces chat and a dedicated tracking spreadsheet, complete with comments of encouragement. Each individual has their own personal daily step goal which eliminates any competition.
Our new goal is to walk across every state. We’re starting with MA going from Williamston to Provincetown. After each state we’ll give ourselves a reward, and we’re having a great time choosing what that reward should be (a state flag? A pin? A virtual coffee hour?). We’ve also begun tracking hydration with a page dedicated to water intake. We’ll see how long it takes us to drink an entire Olympic swimming pool without drowning.