4 Tips to Reduce Isolation While Working Remotely
Jeff Frey, PhD, MBA, MCS
Bestselling Author | Multi-TEDx Speaker | Artificial + Emotional + Business Intelligence Strategist | Helping Leaders Accelerate Talent Without Burnout
I was recently asked to speak at a conference about what I thought the most needed skill or skillset was for the future. Jokingly I said, well… if we believe any of the movies about the future, the skills we will need are ax-wielding, bow and arrow, and shotgun aiming. All futuristic movies I see usually have a heroine overcoming a robotic, viral, or zombie invasion of some sort. Little did I know, weeks later we would be facing a global pandemic.
Moving past my initial nod to Hollywood plot lines I went on to say that being human is the most needed skill in the future. Yes, we need to understand technology, and sure we have to put that in the context of a business, but as technology becomes increasingly more like humanity the individual must become more human! What does it mean to be human? Let’s look at a few things that USED to define humans which technology can now replicate:
- to have the ability to communicate systematically using words, symbols, body gestures/posture, and facial expressions
- to make decisions and to have preferences, and to make/wear clothing
Yikes… I’m pretty sure there is a computer program or robot that is doing all of those right now. But, here are some definitions that still remain:
- to think about thinking, to ponder on the past, present, and future
- to fit into different personality groups, racial, cultural, religious, and political groups
Right now, I think a lot of us are pondering the past and what it was like before COVID19 came on the scene. We must ponder the present to figure out how we will survive the day without schools, church, kids’ sports practice, work travel… all that would have happened today that won’t. And we ponder the future: how long will this last!?
BUT… and where I’m going with all this… we are also human because (see the bullet above): we “fit.”
Sure, we’re all individuals, but we are human because we “fit” within multiple people groups.
During this time of potential isolation, we cannot and must not neglect our humanity and those groups. Phone calls, video chats, instant messaging, are all just TOOLS for communication… not communication itself. It’s a perfect time to call a previous coworker you haven’t seen in a while, video chat a friend, send some pictures to a family member and really connect. Discuss the past, present, and future you’ve been pondering. If you start feeling isolated and alone, here are some tips to help your remoteness:
1. Personalize communications and don’t send so many mass emails, take the time to address and customize your communication style to each individual you interact with.
2. Be conversational, not just transactional, by taking some time before and after the core of your communication to share personal stories or ask get-to-know-you questions.
3. Step up the frequency of your communications and intentionally schedule more synchronous interactions, vary your communication tools, switch it up a bit from day-to-day.
4. Practice your emotional intelligence and use the distance to insert some out-of-your-comfort-zone things you might not have attempted in a face-to-face meeting.
If our current social distancing and potentially quarantining situation is showing me anything, it’s that even more that I originally thought… the skill needed for the future of work is to simply be more human.