We know that loneliness is associated with impaired performance, creativity, and decision-making, so keeping work friendships strong is important.What are your tips for maintaining work friends in a hybrid/remote work environment?
Purposely scheduling the occasional 30-minute meeting with an agenda of "totally casual hangout time" has helped me. I make sure to check with people before putting in on their calendar to make sure they're not totally swamped.
Making sure that "all business talk" isn't my default. A simple "how are things going today" question goes a long way to demonstrating you see work friends as humans.
Also, pinging them with a link or sharing a moment when you're thinking about them is always a nice feeling. It's the unprompted messages that move coworkers from coworkers to coworkers + friends.
Such a great idea, @Monica Morris. We're all missing those impromptu kitchen and desk drive by chats that happen naturally in the office – this is a nice substitute!
Yes! Those random "Hey! I saw this and thought of you!" type messages are the best, @Christine P. Dela Rosa.
Not sure it's a tip, rather than a statement of the obvious, but talk to them more. You've lost those random walk-by chats and "fancy a break/coffee/lunch" times, so make similar time to get on a call with them.
Random-ish IM chats when you've got a problem or question, or even just feel like you've not spoken for a while - let them balloon into a video chat as well as just the initial contact.
Maybe something that is a tip - keep an eye out for good reasons to initiate quick chats. "Hey, after this meeting, you got a few secs?". Some people don't work too well with random interruptions, others find pre-arranged 1:1 socials a bit forced and run out of stuff to talk about, but they're likely to be the type of person that "end meeting, talk to friend" works well for.
Love that "end meeting, talk to friend" idea, @Nic Brough -Adaptavist- !
For me, it's about seeing people face-to-face. When you are both in the office together, spend time together - either over lunch or take a walk, etc. If out of the office, then use video to share things about your life that is going on - not just face time, which is important, but show some things around your home, like space or meals/food/pets, etc. Visuals are so important!
Yes, @John Funk ! It's those little things we share outside of our work lives – meals, things around our homes, pets – that can really keep us feeling connected.
We did remote team events, playing online games like https://garticphone.com/ and hanging around in a video call.
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