What Happens When Uber Brings Puppies to Your Office
The staff at Entrepreneur walked away with more than just the warm fuzzies.
By Carly Okyle •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What happens when Uber brings puppies to your office? More than just the warm fuzzies.
Entrepreneur was given a special preview ahead of today's UberPuppies event, a promotion that allows Uber customers to order a car full of puppies to their doorsteps for 15 minutes of playtime. The event, which is done in partnership with local animal shelters and is meant to encourage adoptions, runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in New York City.
In Entrepreneur's case, a trio of pups arrived with two handlers from pet welfare organization Bideawee and an Uber representative. For the next couple of minutes, the staff engaged with Pumpkin, Tater and Cranberry, terrier mixes born on Thanksgiving.
The experience was hardly just an opportunity for adorable photos (although we have plenty of those below). In fact, it was a very real team-building experience.
Here's what we saw.
1. The puppies facilitated new interactions between employees.
Bringing puppies into the office let us see sides of our co-workers that we don't often see -- in positions we don't often see them in (our editorial director, for example, was propped up against the wall speaking baby talk to the two squirming puppies in his arms). More than anything, it sparked conversation between people who don't regularly interact; an employee who had joined the staff a month ago said she was able to establish relationships with people she hadn't spent much time with previously.
Related: The Joys and Drawbacks of Dog Ownership for the Harried Entrepreneur
2. The event allowed the chance for personal growth.
Playing with puppies isn't something that comes natural to most people; for some, it may even come with a bit of fear. One of our colleagues had had a bad experience with a dog in the past and has avoided them since. With a little encouragement from the team, she was able to face her fear and hold a puppy in her hands. It was a shining moment for her, and the excitement of that moment trickled down to everyone around her.
Related: Invisible Fence Brand Sparked the Entrepreneur in This Pet Enthusiast
3. The experience was a significant mood booster.
On an ordinary weekday afternoon, there's a chance much of our team would be wrapped up in their own meetings and phone calls. On Puppy Day, everyone cleared their calendars. We "ooh-ed" and "aah-ed" and snapped photos of one another. We instantly set up a shared folder so we could swap our pics. The good feelings extended well beyond the time we spent with the pups, with people still recalling the event with smiles this morning.
See for yourself:
A video posted by Entrepreneur Magazine (@entrepreneur) on Feb 3, 2016 at 8:36am PST
