Over the past few years, during the pandemic, the shift to remote work accelerated at a rapid pace. Huge numbers of people who were used to communicating to work each day and spending time in an office environment (or any type of workplace location) suddenly shifted to working from home. That was a massively disruptive change for many people. Predictably, some people thrived in the new remote work scenario and others struggled. As the world began opening up after the pandemic, many companies went back to their traditional work-in-the-office structure, others decided to stick with having employees work remotely, and many found a middle ground where time spent in the office was limited and remote work was allowed or encouraged for at least some portion of every week.
Prior to the pandemic, there was already a slow transition toward more people working remotely, but over the past few years, that transition accelerated by leaps and bounds, so we now face a future where many people will continue working remotely at least part-time, if not entirely.
One of the many challenges brought on by remote work is the change in the way employees socialize and create lasting relationships. When everyone worked in an office, socialization was part of the normal workday. Water coolers may have been replaced by bottled water, but the idea of water cooler conversations remained. When everyone works in the same place, it’s easy to stop by a co-worker’s desk and catch up about the football game over the weekend, the latest Marvel movie, or even office gossip.
When people work remotely, those natural, daily face-to-face interactions become impossible. While an argument could be made that workers are more productive and focused on work, without the socialization, there are real downsides to losing these interactions – both for the business and the individual employees.
In the absence of face-to-face interaction, reading and connecting with others is more challenging; vital emotional context is lost or misconstrued, and connections with co-workers diminish. It can be challenging to start a conversation, and you may feel bad if it isn’t about work. Team building is essential, as successful groups thrive when members feel included, respected, and trusted. So, what can companies do to help foster more social interactions among team members who rarely if ever see each other face-to-face (Zoom calls don’t count)?
Here are a few options to help bring your team’s culture into a virtual environment and some tips to help inspire more socializing among remote team members.
Hold Remote Competitions
Fun, friendly competitions are a fantastic way to get the team to interact with one another and work together. Numerous options exist for remote team-building exercises, so think outside the box. As a company with members from all over the world, one company runs an annual Memory vision song contest in which employees submit a popular song from their own country and then vote on the entries of their coworkers. Having people’s locations play a role in the competitions is a fun way to create more interaction and help employees get to know each other on a personal level.
Create Casual Non-Work-Related Spaces
Instant messaging solutions like Slack are an excellent place to start, giving your team a “virtual water cooler.” While Slack is a business tool, Slack channels should be used for more than just clear business purposes. Create some channels geared toward letting team members share personal information or funny content, catching up with friends or acquaintances, talking about a common interest, exchanging playlists or recipes, or even venting. By purposefully creating designated spaces for non-work talk, you’re indicating that it’s accepted and even encouraged to interact with each other as humans – not simply work colleagues.
Engage in Face-to-Face Video Chats
Seeing each other’s faces, even virtually, is crucial for establishing connections. Aside from realizing that the individuals you ping daily are also real persons, it allows you to connect on a deeper level. The emotional context provided by making eye contact and employing open body language – or even just hearing someone’s voice – makes discussions more meaningful and engaging. Some people generally don’t like video conferences, maybe because they like to work in their pajamas or don’t want to worry about grooming the way they might in an office environment. So, try to make these video calls casual and fun. You can have occasional events like ‘business dress day’ where people actually dress like they did when they came to the office or have theme days around local sports teams or whatever our team likes. Have some fun with the idea and make people comfortable.
These few tactics aren’t going to replace the in-person socialization that we all used to experience in the workplace, but they can be helpful in keeping team members engaged and less isolated.
