What are effective ways to build professional relationships in a hybrid work environment?

I've seen many instances where people discover they have a common interest (an author, sport, musical artist, etc), and it greatly speeds up building their professional relationship. One way to help this happen is to encourage people to share their interests (if they feel comfortable to)

Here are some ways I love to interact with others in a remote environment: -Virtual Coffee-ask someone on a coffee date. Use this time to talk about anything that you connect on (check on each other, share a story, tell them about something that happened to you). -Walk and Talk-dedicate one of your regular catch up video calls to a phone call while you both leave the house. The person will be grateful to get up and move and the entire conversation will have a more relaxed vibe.

In my experience working with OPPO, our manager had an interesting ritual at the start of meetings. She would kick off the morning meetings by asking a unique question: 1. Mood-o-meter - How are you feeling on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is feeling down and 5 is feeling happiest? This helped the team start on an informal note, creating water cooler moments that happen in real-time and breaking the ice.

Additionally, she introduced a cool strategy where each team member would ask an ice-breaking question a day before the meeting, and we all had to come prepared with answers the next day. Questions ranged from personal favorites like your favorite film and why, to fun ones like which actor would play you if a movie were made about your life. It was a simple yet effective virtual team-building game.

I love the emphasis on communication, but I would add, for it to be successful it can’t just be dependent on individuals. We need structures and regular cadences for different types of communication. For example, virtual coffee chats are a great way to get to know people. To help ease the process, team members can submit to a database topics that they have expertise on, conversations that get them excited, or any number of prompts. This data base could be available by department or organization wide depending on your culture. Then communicate the impact of relationship building with this new resource. No teams are equipped to connect in ways that enhance their own growth and also in ways that build community!

Consider the benefits of carving the time out of your diary to attend both virtual and in-person events on a regular basis. Both will attract a slightly different audience that could be highly beneficial to nurture for your continued professional relationships. Virtual gives you the opportunity to meet people who may not be able to travel to the venue but are keen to be involved and gain the insights / share their views. In-person gives you the opportunity to speak to multiple people over the course of the event and potentially solidify some of the relationships you may have nurtured virtually. Both play an important part in the continued development of your professional relationships.

- I agree with being yourself, but don’t expect others to behave like you. If you’re an extrovert by nature, a more introverted colleague might find your frequent attempts at socialization exhausting, forced even. - In a work environment not everyone needs to be best friends, but everyone owes their colleagues respect and understanding. - Try sharing your genuine interests and experience. “Your people” will naturally flock to you. - Ambition and competitiveness are great qualities, but not at the expense of others. Never walk over people to get ahead.