[iskonkul]

Just want to share an anecdote of a 500 people company that I'm based in. The company surprisingly nailed all the points that are made by the OP. And the positive effect of having such a weekly Friday All Hands is apparent. This initiative has only been implemented a month ago, and before that there was a sense of low morale in the team as they were in the dark as to the direction of the company and perhaps their work lacked recognition. However, after the implementation of the All Hands, the teams got invigorated by well-deserved recognition from the leaders and in front of everyone. And in general everyone became clearer of the company's mission and key focus through presentations and Q&A. If there are musically inclined folks in the company, it definitely helps to lift the spirit of the team singing along with songs they are playing at the end of it. If you are a leader of a company considering having All Hands, rolling it out as described in the article could set your team in the right path.

[techterrier]

If you had a singalong at the end of an all hands in Britain, almost everyone would throw themselves through the nearest window.

[bshimmin]

Oh, I don't know; I think with sufficient alcohol a rousing rendition of Who ate all the pies or something would go down quite well.

[arethuza]

"sufficient alcohol"

I remember all-hands meetings like that - one in particular where the CEO tried to buy the hotel at 4am so he could order the bar open. The withering disdain of the barman was quite something.

Mind you this was in Scotland so "sufficient alcohol" really means something.

[bshimmin]

Sounds like something from Withnail & I! "All right, Miss Blennerhassett, I'm warning you, if you do, you're fired. We are multimillionaires. We shall buy this place and fire you immediately."

[arethuza]

More like the defenestration of whoever was daft enough to suggest singing.

[soft_dev_person]

I would leave any company with singalong sessions. shudder

[J-dawg]

To really get everyone fired up, it's best to have your own company song book.

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/08/tripping-through-ibm...

[NoGravitas]

Ever onward!

At least one version of OS/2 came with a midi version of Ever Onward buried in its pre-installed sound files. Seeing that songbook makes me hear it all over again.

[pc86]

> If there are musically inclined folks in the company, it definitely helps to lift the spirit of the team singing along with songs they are playing at the end of it.

There are musically inclined folks everywhere.

I'm pretty musically inclined but dear lord I would never do this, nor would I work anywhere that did.