Stay connected with colleagues

Working from home

More people than ever are working from home these days, whether that's all of the time or a mixture of going to the office and working from home.

It can be harder to create or maintain good working relationships when you are working remotely. When we see people face-to-face we can use people's tone of voice and body language to help us understand their intentions or reactions. That's not always as easy by phone or even on a video call.

We all need to stay connected to the people we work with and build the relationships we have with our colleagues. Here are some ideas on connecting with your colleagues when you work from home:

Schedule regular catch-ups
Set scheduled time to chat with colleagues. There may be days when you could go the whole day or longer without chatting to anyone aloud. Your call doesn’t need to be all about work, just chat like you would while making a cuppa or working together in the office. If you manage a team, organise a virtual coffee/lunch where everyone is invited.
Collaborating
Working together with someone even remotely can help you feel connected. There are lots of tools out there to help with managing projects. Some of these tools offer threads or chat windows so you can have small talk throughout the day as you would in an office.
Fostering connection
Share interesting and funny content with your colleagues via a Whatsapp group chat or closed Facebook group to bolster solidarity. Bring back watercooler moments by creating different channels on Slack or folders on Google Drive where you can discuss and share a range of topics like what everyone's binge-watching, boredom hacks, working out at home, recipes etc.
Co-working
Grab some friends or colleagues together and do some co-working. Set up a video call, and work alongside each other with periods of silence intermingled with chit chat.
Assume good intent
While technology has its benefits, it’s important to keep in mind that without the personal element of face to face interaction, body language or tone; text-based messages or emails can be misunderstood or lost in translation. Rather than fire off an angry response, double-check the meaning with the person first. And, we can all have an off-day so be kind to each other!