5 Tips to socialize in a remote work setting

With COVID-19 re-openings underway, many offices are allowing employees to work from home permanently. To facilitate remote work interaction, such organizations are implementing strategies and taking actions to bring coworkers together deliberately. Managers organizing activities like virtual water coolers, icebreakers, and interest-based Slack channels to encourage workers to collaborate beyond work, are some examples of such strategies.

Such activities might look fun and games, but they go deeper in bringing the members together and building trust. According to research on managing the virtual workspace, it is proven that such activities provide a psychologically safe environment that encourages information sharing and socializing among the workforce.

This article lists some tips to forge meaningful connections and socialize in a remote work setting.

Look for reasons to connect

The pandemic has forced us to become isolated in communications, limiting the scope of talks beyond work. To improve remote work communication in an environment with fewer levels of management, individual contributors need to take responsibility for building and maintaining social relationships with their teammates.

An easy way to achieve this goal is to reach out to team members with the reasons to connect. Do not just reach out when you need something. Be intentional in connecting to them on a more personal level. You can spend the first few minutes of every meeting sharing small talk with team members. If you are not prepared, listen throughout the session and list issues or problems that other team members point out. Next time use these points to initiate a conversation on a personal level.

Social networking

Today, there are a range of online social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other instant messaging services that you can use to stay connected and chat with your coworkers outside the formal space. The idea here is to use social networking as a tool for remote work interaction that extends beyond professional relationships.

We recommend using instant messaging platforms for face-to-face interactions rather than chats. Seeing people’s faces is vital for building rapport. Video chatting sessions help you remember that your coworkers are real humans with whom you can connect on a deeper level. When you look someone in the eye and use open body language, it provides subtle social cues you can never get by just hearing their voice. Therefore, you should use videoconferencing to catch up for a better connection with other remote workers.

Give people the benefit of the doubt

Before remote work became a norm, the trust between managers, workers, and teammates was established over time through a combination of interactions on both virtual platforms and in person. However, building a psychologically safe environment in a remote work setting is difficult when meeting people virtually. It is human nature to be skeptical of trusting someone you have never seen face-to-face in a physical space. This is why you need to give everyone the benefit of the doubt to build honest and positive relationships. Leverage the ‘swift trust’ theory to accelerate the trust-building process and help each other progress through competence and trustworthiness.

Get out once a day

It might seem futile, but make it a point to leave the house once a day. It can be to run an errand, stroll with your pet, or go for a midday walk, it is important to get out of the house at least once every day. Your interaction with your teammates depends significantly on your attitude and emotional state. It is far too easy to stay cooped up in the house when working in a remote environment. This isolation can affect your mental and emotional health, so balancing work and life is essential. There are countless ways to interact throughout the day, and it doesn’t have to be with the colleagues only. For a change of scene, you can take a laptop to the local coffee shop, restaurant, or library and work from there. The change of environment and human contact will lift your spirits and minimize the feeling of isolation.

Try virtual well-being classes

It is essential to prioritize your well-being when you work from home. Fortunately, there are several ways you can keep healthy while improving your remote work interaction with colleagues. Plan fun group activities like virtual meditation sessions or yoga classes weekly. Virtual well-being classes are engaging and help you take care of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being while opening up to other teammates.

Conclusion

Working in a remote setting doesn’t mean you have to socialize less. As listed above, there are several ways to improve your remote work communication. We believe utilizing these five tips can drastically improve your interaction with other teammates.

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