Bridging the WFH void ...
Let's count first 10 things that comes to our mind, we all used to indulge in when working on-site :
- Coffee table fun talks
- Long winding discussions over lunch table
- Campus strolls with buddies, filled with intense discussions on almost everything : from politics to philosophy to cricket, to an office grapevine
- Game afternoons
- Bonding over white-boarding ideation sessions
- Focused meeting room discussions
- Turning around to chitchat with our buddy, share a joke and laugh
- Casually walk up to a cubicle and engage in a long engrossing chat with few others joining in
- Those charged up handshakes & high-fives on a great win together
- And for some of us, bonding and mingling over a shared (& long) commute
It's almost going to be a year of remote working, and we are feeling the void of many such moments of bonding or human connect from our professional world. Those who've onboarded a new workplace recently, it's even more precarious for them. You haven't met your team, peers or leaders in-person and you still are one of the teammates who meet virtually - everyday. Remote onboarding robs you off that ecosystem where you meet people and build relationships, acquaintances organically.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed at times working alone, when you don't have a buddy next seat to talk and share, over a coffee or a leisurely campus stroll. We all are missing out that social quotient from our professional lives -- to celebrate, ideate, build, share, laugh around. Humans by nature are social creatures and science has proved that social connect improves mental well-being. And it's this void, that's gnawing at each one of us, at different levels.
While we all wish the whole world gets back to the olden days, it seems and feels very distant, right now. It's going to be a good while before the world even think of normalising. It's in our best interests that we normalise ourselves and adapt to the new world around us. Whether the workplace is in same city or we've moved to our hometown or onboarded remotely, we still can do few things to keep that human connect alive in our professional world, of course, following all the safety measures.
Some thoughts at my end are :
Workplace in same city
- Meet ups of the team members on some regular cadence : a brunch or dinner together, say once a month
- Meeting with families, those who can make it easily, could also be a magical bonding catalyst
Workplace in different city
- If traveling is safe and risk free, take a trip to your workplace city, plan a catchup with your folks. It'll be worth every penny
- Alternatively, plan your travel such that other remote working folks too can join for a good team get-together
- If there are more folks at the same place, and if it's safe and viable, working in cohort from a shared office space, is a great idea
These are few I could think of. And am sure, I may have missed many. Would love to hear some from you, if you have any to add to the list.
Engineering Leader|Certified ScrumMaster?|Career/Life Coach
4 年This is a much-needed discussion Amit. Without social quotient, we would all end up being zombies .One of the most powerful and simple ways (which you have always followed) to build the social quotient is to turn the camera on in all possible meetings. Lot of ppl refrain from doing it for their own reasons. But it makes you 'be present' in the situation and also helps build the missing bond. Waiting to see the other responses on this post.?
Engineering Leader | Product Development, Agile, Lean | webMethods iPaaS, IBM
4 年Great post Amit. What I hope we don't let pass is the awareness and the extra sensitivity that this change has brought in all of us. And that we must deliberately work to seek and preserve what we care about.