With more and more people opting to work from home, it can be increasingly difficult for coworkers to forge connections that usually come from spending hours together in an office. As a result, the actual distance between colleagues frequently translates into distant working relationships. To keep your connection with other employees, don’t rely on it to happen naturally and instead make it a point to work on it.
Work It Out
Now that in-person time won’t be happening naturally, you need to find time in your day to make it happen, even if it feels forced at first. Carve time out in your workweek to reach out to coworkers, whether it’s by email, video chats or phone calls. Make it a point to reach out to everyone, not just those you work with frequently or are friendly with, as it is important to make yourself as available as you would be if you were in an office where anyone could stop by.
Press ‘Like’
To mimic the camaraderie of an office, make yourself available on business networking sites like LinkedIn and even social media accounts so that you can share snippets of your personal life and professional achievements more naturally with those you work with. If the idea of adding coworkers to your personal social media accounts makes you wary, consider making an alternate work-only account where you can have a little more control over what is shared with others. This will have the added benefit of creating talking points for your regular conversations with remote workers so you can get to know them on a more personal level.
By committing to keeping work relationships strong despite the distance, you will be able to bridge the remote worker divide and keep your company connections strong no matter where your colleagues are located.
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