One of the downsides of working from home is that it can be more difficult for employees to connect with their coworkers. According to the study, 70% of respondents said maintaining relationships with their coworkers was just as important as their jobs. Building a relationship with your manager and coworkers is essential for any employee, and has to evolve gradually over time through communication and establishing trust. Here are five ways for you to maintain your work relationships while working remotely.
When managing your team remotely, effective communication is crucial. Take advantage of the variety of channels available to help your team stay in touch and collaborate, but bear in mind that operating over too many different channels can become confusing. As these calls are now your equivalent to team meetings, make sure that your team understands the importance of attending. If you are having issues with attendance or lateness, perhaps point out the benefit of these calls in keeping everyone in the loop, celebrating successes and progressing collectively as a team.
Maintaining a sharp delineation between work and home can become a slippery slope when your office is 10 feet from your living room, so you need to be very clear about your schedule. Make sure your manager and coworkers have a firm understanding of when you’re around and when you’re not. That way, you stay accessible and can plan regular times to check-in or collaborate with coworkers. Just make sure you don’t let work bleed into your time, either.
When it comes to building strong relationships with remote workers, you don’t have to do that much. It can be as simple as taking a moment to ask how everyone is doing at the start of a conference call. If you know a coworker recently went on vacation, you can make a note to ask about his or her trip. You can also use messaging apps to keep up informal conversations with coworkers by sending funny links or even work-related information you think they might find helpful.
Working remotely makes you realize how many impromptu interactions you have in an office to catch up with your colleagues. These moments may seem somewhat insignificant at the time, but they go a long way to building rapport and fostering working relationships. If you don’t want to video call regularly, you could still facilitate this by using instant messaging apps such as Yammer or Slack and proactively asking your team how they are at a time when it won’t interrupt any discussion about work.
Unless you’re new to managing your team, you probably know your colleagues reasonably well and therefore can read their emotions and reactions when with them in person. So, where possible, use video calls so you and your team can see each other and therefore engage more than you would over the phone. Additionally, try to place more attention to their tone of voice to gauge how they’re feeling by using and encourage inclusive language such as ‘we’ and ‘our’ to foster cohesion and unity.
Maintaining relationships when you work from home does take some effort and planning, but with the right attitude and tools, just a few small gestures each day can help you create the same type of bond as if you worked in a cubicle right next to one another.
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