How to stay connected while working remotely

Today marks the year anniversary of lockdown. The day many of us started working from home long-term.

Although going back to normal isn't too long away (hopefully), lockdown fatigue is very real for many people. Working from home definitely has its perks, but it's also tough on our wellbeing at times. Screen fatigue and burnout are all too common, and the lack of in-person communications feels even more pronounced a year on.

How can we creatively come together to re-establish communication when we're all a bit tired and fed up with staring at a screen all day? It requires a little bit of extra effort and participation.

Be proactive about putting in much-needed catch-up time in people's diaries. Even just 15 minutes of chatting about non-work related things can really help people feel less isolated and like they've had a good social interaction. For people that live alone, this could be the only interaction they're having that day, so it could make a real difference. This doesn't need to be just within the team; you can reach out to anyone in your organisation for a video call or an old fashioned phone call.

Remember, you don't need to be a manager to implement these changes. If you want more social interaction, you can be the one to instigate new ideas.

You could try to reimagine your commuting time, grab an after-work drink or cup of tea with a colleague before signing off for the day. Or schedule virtual lunch dates to grab a coffee and chat about things that aren't work-related. While programmes like Slack and Zoom are great for meeting with colleagues and chatting easily, there are plenty of other fun alternatives.

Donut is a great app for first date style chats. It allows you to have water cooler style chats with random people from your organisation. Escape 100 winners, Ecosia, told us how they've been using Donut to help people stay connected over the past year.

"When Covid-19 meant we had to move from a flexible and remote-friendly workplace to fully remote, we introduced additional support and made sure we were staying in touch to keep social connections going and growing. Our team expanded a lot last year, so we used tools like ‘Donut’ in Slack to encourage people to go for virtual coffee dates, which helped new team members feel part of the Ecosia family more quickly." - Ecosia.

If you're missing the general feeling of being around people, you could simulate being in a co-working space or an office by keeping a video on while you work. This allows team members to ask questions when needed quickly and feel like they have social interaction.

If you have regular team meetings, you could try starting them with a positive personal note. You're people that need interaction, not just co-workers.

Think about what monthly or weekly activities you could do as a team to help bring people together. A book club or lunch and learn is a great way to socialise and focus on something that isn't work-related. Here are some interesting and creative ways our winning Escape 100 organisations have stayed connected with their teams while working from home.

"We’ve focused on giving people time and space to work on their own mental and physical wellbeing and where they need support, we make sure that’s available to them and easy to access. Some of the initiatives and weekly stuff we have in place:

- Weekly PT class

- Weekly breathwork and mobility class

- Weekly bookclub

- Access to Spill therapy" - Moju

"Over the last year, as well as successfully transitioning to a fully remote company, we have focused on staying connected and keeping our culture alive. We found new ways to connect through breakfast calls, games evenings, virtual escape rooms and murder mysteries. We never knew the team were such talented actors!" Standing on Giants

You could suggest lunch and learn sessions with colleagues: Each week, someone in the team could present a new topic, which could be work-related or not. These kinds of activities are great to get to know colleagues better.

"Lockdown and working from home was uncovering challenges we hadn't faced on this scale before, such as burn out, setting boundaries, stress etc. We put together a two-week wellbeing programme for the team where we delivered workshops around stress management, nutrition, digital detox, mental maintenance for trying times and some fun virtual baking/cooking evenings led by the team." - Work.Life

"We understand that working (and joining!) a company remotely can be awkward at the best of times, and isolating at the worst. That’s why we host monthly online socials. Whether it be candle-making or escape rooms - we make sure that we have time to connect with each other and relax as a team." - Beam

We understand that not everyone is comfortable being on video all the time. An idea to engage people without video could be playing online games with colleagues. Scrabble anyone?

If you work alone, you could join a professional network. You are likely to find likeminded people, and there are likely to be regular events that you can attend to meet new people and learn new skills.

We hope these ideas have inspired you to reconnect with your colleagues. If you implement any of these ideas, get in touch with us via our social media channels and give us a shout out. We love to hear your feedback!