Learning opportunities with a social component, like digital coaching or virtual instructor-led training, can be particularly potent options for engaging employees that work remotely. Not only do these learning opportunities help employees build https://remotemode.net/blog/tips-on-how-to-make-friends-when-you-work-from-home/ valuable technical and leadership skills, but they may also alleviate some of the isolation remote workers can experience. As someone who recently started a new job with a far-flung team, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make friends.

If everyone shares pet photos in a Slack channel, consider posting one of your super cute pup. If someone asks for travel advice from a place you know well, share your tips. If you have the best recipe for lasagna or blueberry pie, share it, maybe with a photo from the last time you made it. I once landed on a former work wife’s doorstep in Nashville for a weeklong stay only to realize when I got there that we’d met in person exactly once. Marisa Franco, Ph.D., was previously a professor at Georgia State University, where she became an academic expert on friendship. She currently works as a policy fellow at Millenium Challenge Corporation.

Share more of yourself.

Video chats can make interpersonal interactions between remote colleagues feel less awkward, which makes it easier to build the social connections that keep your remote employees engaged. Consider using video platforms whenever you can for meetings and encourage people to keep their cameras on. “Repotting,” according to Ryan Hubbard, founder of the Kitestring Project, means varying the settings in which you interact. The more friends we repot, according to one study, the deeper the friendships. That means if you only ever interact at work, it’ll be hard to strengthen your bond. Instead, go to the museum or happy hour or have your co-worker over for dinner.

• Juggling communication and schedules across a remote team can be tricky—especially if people are working in different time zones.
• That’s why it’s important to focus on building a healthy and productive culture from the start.
• One benefit of self-organized coworking video sessions is that you won’t have to pay anything extra for them.

You can learn about someone by seeing what objects they have sitting in front of them all day. Let’s say you heard a coworker Megan mention in the all-staff meeting that she was late because she was putting her kindergarten son on the school bus for the first time. After the meeting, send her a message telling her you know exactly how that feels – you just dropped your three-year-old off at her first day of daycare. Even the introverts among us have a need for some type of human connection at work. Long-standing research has shown that 72 percent of people who report having a “work bestie” are satisfied with their jobs, compared to 54 percent of those who don’t have a best friend at work. Because co-workers don’t regularly see you in the elevator or the hallway, they might forget you.

Make an effort to meet your coworkers in person when you can.

Preemptively remind them of your name and role when meeting with them. Think about how your behavior might appear to others so you don’t accidentally offend anyone. For example, it might look like you’re not paying attention if you’re taking notes during a Zoom meeting, so let people know what you’re doing. Research from Microsoft, performed after a year of work https://remotemode.net/ from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, found that work from home silos us, particularly from interactions with those outside of our internal team. They found that people’s networks grew smaller while working from home, and team communication, even virtually, decreased. Joining Virtual Vocations grants you access to our hand-picked remote jobs database.

Focus on remote working tools that streamline communication, enable collaboration, and reduce friction for workers—whether that’s tracking work assignments or following up with coworkers. When you add remote work into your company dynamics, that will impact how employees and leaders work together. For example, we know remote work can improve productivity and performance—but it doesn’t always translate to higher employee retention. Juggling communication and schedules across a remote team can be tricky—especially if people are working in different time zones. That’s why establishing a consistent feedback culture is so important.

How to make friends at work to build social capital, whether at home or in the office.

Make time for activities other than work communication to foster team connection remotely. A chat messaging service is your go-to medium for remote work friendships. Whether you’re sending a text message or voice message through a program like Voxer, it’s the remote equivalent of popping into someone’s office to tell them a quick story on your way to the bathroom. When working remotely, it is often easy to
neglect personal relationships because discussions about work take priority. Try to broaden the daily and weekly discussions to include topics such as new
movies, current events, music, and even family life. Even though it is not
always possible to replicate an office environment, you can get pretty close by
incorporating these kinds of discussions, even when the main topic is still
work-related.

• Since remote employees aren’t coming into your office, they won’t necessarily come equipped with all the tools they need to be successful.
• It’s the sense of meaningful commitment a person feels toward their work; it’s the emotional fulfillment they receive from a job well done.
• These are the building blocks of engaged and productive employees no matter where they do their work.
• At work, it’s being able to ask someone on a team for help or for a brainstorm; to use their expertise to help you achieve something at work, or offering yours to help them complete a project.
• By focusing on clear communication and making sure not everything is about work all the time, you can replicate the social component of a traditional office quite easily.