BTS Software Solutions sent employees a ‘QBOX’ for some work-from-home fun

While plenty of professionals have proven resilient and productive at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s still a need to have some fun every once in a while. It gets tough being isolated, after all.

Columbia’s BTS Software Solutions looked to help employees in that endeavor with a “survival kit” it shipped out to team members that it’s calling the QBOX (short for “quarantine box”).

The box had the kind of items one may find lying around the office at a tech company: a coffee mug with a funny phrase, candy, a Nerf gun, zombie playing cards, a wine glass and Groucho glasses. Reviews have been positive so far from the 75-person team, and a couple of employees said the Nerf gun provided an extra toy for their kids.

“We wanted to do something unique and unusual,” said BTS CEO David Tohn, who joined a couple other leaders at the software development company to pack boxes. “We have employees who are stateside and deployed and wanted to come alongside them and show them we have their back, we care about them and to encourage them to hang in there.”

The tech company already had the idea for a birthday box to send to employees who are outside the home office, both in the U.S. and overseas.With the pandemic, it applied that to WFH. Tohn said it was “very cost effective” from a price and shipping perspective, but he said it’s important to invest the time and thought into something that folks will appreciate.

“Obviously, costs are a concern for everyone right now but it’s really less about sending an expensive gift and more so putting the thought and time in to focus on just what your workforce needs and what would be memorable and useful to them,” Tohn said.

Sometimes, what your team needs is funny glasses to wear during a Zoom call.