The Shoe Swap 👞

The Shoe Swap pairs employees across roles to walk a mile in each other’s shoes. Each conversation is a chance to learn what a teammate’s day actually looks like — the wins, the friction, the parts no one sees from outside.

How it works

1. You pick the audience and cadence. Choose employees across roles and departments, then set how often pairs go out and at what time.
2. CoffeePals matches everyone randomly each cycle. Active participants are shuffled into groups of your chosen size (most teams pick pairs, but trios and quads work too).
3. Pairs get an intro on your selected platform. Each match receives a personal message with an optional icebreaker question.
4. They schedule the meeting themselves. With calendars connected, CoffeePals can auto-book a time both are free. Otherwise, partners pick a slot in the thread.
5. Anyone left over gets prioritised next cycle. When the count doesn’t divide evenly, the person who sits out won’t be skipped twice in a row.

Who it’s for

• Cross-functional empathy between sales, engineering, support, and ops
• Companies breaking down “us and them” dynamics between teams
• Leaders wanting their org to understand itself from the inside

What you’ll configure

• Frequency, day, and time for each cycle
• Group size — pairs, trios, or larger
• Opt-in — let people confirm, or auto-include everyone
• Icebreaker questions — curated prompts, or write your own
• Calendar scheduling — Google or Microsoft, with auto-booking

Ready to bring this to your team?

Setup takes about five minutes. CoffeePals handles the matching, the messaging, and the follow-up, so you can just watch the conversations happen.