5 Ways to Make Working Remotely Feel Less Remote

If you’re one of the many people who have made the transition from the office to the home office over the last few months, it’s natural to miss the traditional workplace after so much time. Even more than the structure, fresh air, and change of pace it would provide, one of the major benefits of physically going to work is the community. Everyone may not have been best friends before now, but co-workers can become an important part of your life after many years of working together. After being apart for so long, here are five ways to make working remotely feel less remote you can use to stay in touch and reconnect.

1. Start a Group Chat

It’s easier than ever to stay in touch with people thanks to the internet. If you’ve been wanting to speak with your co-workers, why not start a group chat for the office? It could be purely recreational in nature or for collaboration on your duties. Either way, the end result is that you’re not all stuck with minimal contact and can work together to get things done like the old days.

2. Weekly Meetings

Meetings are commonplace when you work in the office, so why does it have to be different when you work from home? Regular weekly meetings can be a good way to catch up and keep everyone on the same page with current projects. Ideally, you’ll be doing this in the form of video conferences for a more connected and personable touch to make it feel more like you’re in the same room as each other.

3. Free Time Hangouts

If you and your co-workers want to do things together again, it’s easy enough to try to set up some kind of online hangout in your free time. This can take many forms depending on what your office enjoys doing, some popular options being movie nights and book clubs. With so many apps and websites that allow people to watch videos together or share their screens, it shouldn’t be any problem recreating the experience of spending time together.

4. Email Chains

While chain emails might normally be the bane of one’s existence, starting one yourself for your company can actually turn out to be a lot of fun. For example, you could send a joke you found to one person’s inbox with the instruction to forward the email with their own joke added on to another person. Keep this going until everyone’s had a turn. This works for all sorts of things from nice messages to funny cat videos to entertainment news and more, so it’s entirely up to what you think your co-workers might enjoy.

5. Be Available

These are uniquely stressful times for everyone, isolation only working to exacerbate the bad feelings most of us are experiencing right now. One of the most comforting things you can do for another person is to tell them that you’re there for them if they’re in need. Whether it’s personally or professionally, knowing a co-worker really has your back can make a world of difference when you’re stuck at home behind a screen. It doesn’t have to be a big deal — in fact, it’s better to keep it casual — but the fact you’re offering your support and being available to others is likely to make your relationship with your co-workers a lot closer.

It’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed and isolated when you’re working remotely for long periods of time. Stay grounded and reconnect with others in the office by using these five idea for reaching out and making remote work feel less remote. For more tips and tricks on improving your business and office culture as well as learn about insurance related to your work, check out InsureYourCompany.com today.