Port Authority employees are using an online forum they had already established to communicate with each other as they work from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The parents with the agency had already created the forum before the crises began, basically like a coworker resource group for swapping high chairs.

But when it was time to stay home, Kristina Kiley, a customer liaison at Newark Liberty International Airport, suggested the forum to make suggestions to others who might need some advice on lowering the stress load. That is certainly one benefit, another is getting to know many more coworkers on a much more personal level.

“It was a virtual happy hour, and he was showing us something that he keeps on his fridge,” says Kiley. “It was craft beer caps, and my daughter all of a sudden says is this what you do at work all day you talk about beer, and everybody thought it was hysterical.”

 

The group certainly helps Port Authority employees deal with the new stress load that all of them are dealing with working from home. They also very much recommend it to other companies in similar situations as a means to not just lowering stress, but getting to know the people you work with in a much more personal way.