Work from Home Tips: Staying Socially Connected At a Distance
The people we work with are often our friends as well as colleagues. After all, we (usually) see them for almost as many hours a week as we see our families. Our coworkers provide us with different forms of social interaction, whether it’s eating lunch together, attending meetings or even working quietly near one another. If you’re working from home, here are some ways you can stay connected with your coworkers.
1. Recreate a coffee break environment.
Think back to the days (doesn’t it seem so long ago?) when you arrived at the office in the morning and chatted with coworkers over coffee. A few unscheduled minutes gave you a chance to catch up with each other.
Since you can’t chat in person, think about setting up a Teams “coffee break” every few days to connect.
2. Check in regularly.
You can also use Teams throughout the workday to check in with your colleagues. Use the chat feature in Teams to ask a quick question or provide an update about something you’re working on. If you would rather talk, you can call coworkers through Teams as well.
3. Create a group challenge.
A challenge can help you and your colleagues stay connected in a fun way. A few ideas:
- A step challenge: Nothing like a little friendly competition to get you moving! Create a challenge within the Virgin Pulse app and ask your coworkers to participate. Use the app's chat feature to encourage each other.
- A recipe challenge: Many of us are doing more cooking while social distancing. Ask coworkers to share a recipe they have tried recently.
- A wellness challenge: Encourage your coworkers to find a yoga class or other wellness class online, try it out and share it with others. We are currently offering a series of yoga classes, so this is a good place to start!
We may not be able to talk with our coworkers in person, but we can still find ways to connect and build relationships. By taking the time to stay connected now, our teams will be even stronger when we are back in the office.
For More Information
The Remote Worker Resources hub from Education & Organizational Development and TSG has all the information and job aids you'll need if you are working remotely. A link to it is also available from the Coronavirus hub.
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