All about 'Digital Bongo' : Embrace the Evolution

CNI Desk: “Years come and years go”, but the most challenging year so far for me was 2020; I am Bongo, the most popular Bangla streaming platform, and I am saying that out loud. This year, my office operations transformed from manual to digital, and let me tell you one thing, it was not that easy.

Let me introduce myself in short:

I was born on the 20th of January 2014 in Bangladesh. At present, I am 7 years old. You can call me a great Bengali entertainer by passion. My favorite color is red. You can reach out to me anytime, from anywhere by just visiting www.bongobd.com.

 

Digital Bongo:

Till the 15th of March 2020, I was completely manual. When Covid-19 was spreading around the world like wildfire, we initiated digital operations for working from home. We all had a hard time to embrace the new change.

Challenges and Action Points:

Our challenge of rolling out ‘Home Office’ digital operations was to ensure the preparedness of Bongo people; physically, psychologically, and logistically.

•           We experimented with new processes and reporting mechanisms for Home Office operations. We completely digitized our attendance and employee leave process. We started taking attendance through Slack and Google Meet morning meetings. Our Team Leads tracked all office related work through Google Work from home reports and google shared documents.

•           For Bongo, "people always come first." We performed digital Surveys on employees on a regular basis to understand their virtual needs in terms of logistics, resources, physical and mental health. In this way, we ensured they had adequate tools for home office. Additionally, we also began a quarterly “Workplace Feedback Survey” in April 2020 to understand the pulse of the culture.

 

•           We digitized the recruitment and onboarding processes journey. Employees were no longer required to visit the office for their interview or onboarding purposes including arranging delivery of laptops. We began taking interviews online using Zoom and Google Meet. We motivated people to work virtually - by having regular conversations. One of our most popular projects of 2020 was the “Virtual Internship Program.” These new initiatives enhanced our freedom and flexibility at work.

•           For new employees, we started taking 360 Degree Feedback online before confirming for the job role as it was important to understand that we were getting outcomes desired by the role. We also encouraged our employees to take paid/ unpaid online courses/training to develop themselves.

•           Our best initiative was; ‘Bongo Stress Buster Hour’. During this one paid office hour, our employees did not have to worry about work. They helped their families with household chores, spent leisure time playing with children, took care of elderlies, watched movies, read books etc.  It was a moment for them to just relax. .

•           Along with these employee-oriented initiatives, we went an extra mile for people’s psychological wellness. We have been organizing bi-monthly ‘Virtual Happy Hour’ where the entire Bongo Tribe met online to have a digital “adda.” Tribe Members performed by singing, dancing, and providing instant stand up comedy to uplift everyone's mood.

•           Covid-19 could not stop us from implementing creative initiatives like “Virtual Employee Reward & Recognition" in different categories. We celebrated the monthly virtual “Friends at Work” event to encourage digital friendship among our people and establish a strong, friendly, and diverse virtual culture. That’s not all. We started quarterly “No Face Podcast' by CoN”, company wide quarterly “Virtual Town Hall'' and “Ask Me Anything” Quarterly Virtual Session led by our COO, Fayaz Taher.

We have a lot more upcoming exciting virtual plans for the year 2021 as we wait eagerly for the new year. I am just happy I could do all this in a workplace that allowed me to entertain our employees.

I know it sounds strange that I am trying to work hard and entertain using a small device - “mobile phone” but trust me, the future is digital.  Let's survive together virtually, learn to adapt, and let's welcome the new normal positively.  Download and watch on Bongo!