Is remote work making us lonely?

Every time we remember being in the office, nobody mentions rushing between rooms to make a meeting on time, or sitting through traffic in the morning commute. It has become clear by now that what we miss the most is face to face interaction and the so-called water-cooler moments. And as we take on new winter lockdowns in Portugal and around the world, loneliness could be lurking around the corner once again.

Yashmina H on Unsplash

Loneliness can manifest while working from home (during a global pandemic)

For a few months now, with the gradual reopening of restaurants, gyms and commerce, most people have been enjoying the flexibility of remote work combined with the possibility of having small and limited social gatherings outside of their homes. At tb.lx, we have embraced a remote first approach since June, which means we can split our work between home and the office, as long as we respect the maximum seat capacity and safety measures. However, the latest measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic are casting a shadow over this new-found balance.

While most of the professionals working from home during the first lockdowns were overwhelmed by childcare and family responsibilities, many others struggled with its polar opposite: being alone. A lot of professionals (young adults, but not exclusively) are living by themselves, sometimes abroad, and deprived from interacting with friends, family and loved ones, and even dating, other than through screens. Living alone can be extremely liberating, but while “solitude is bliss”, as sung by Tame Impala, it also has a grim side.

Research has shown that social isolation and loneliness can have serious negative effects on our health, such as increased risk of high blood pressure and a more fragile immune system, physical inactivity, low self-esteem and a higher risk of addictive behaviour[1]. Furthermore, Dr. Vivek Murthy, a US surgeon and author of “Together”, sees loneliness as a public health issue that affects not only our physical and mental health, but also our ability to perform in the workplace[2]. Back in 2017, he had already written about how “reducing isolation is good for business”[3].

So, even before the pandemic hit, we all knew that humans are social beings with an innate desire to connect and to belong. Now, after almost a year of reduced social interactions in both our personal and work lives, professionals working from home are more prone to experience loneliness and other mental health problems, as well as disruption to their habits and sleep routines [4] — especially young adults[5].

How to maintain human connection in the remote workplace

In light of these facts, as early as March 2020, at tb.lx, we were quick to implement a remote culture and initiatives — which we then open-sourced and shared here — that would allow our teams to maintain touchpoints outside of our nice office in central Lisbon. On the brink of another full lockdown, this remains a top priority for us and for many other companies that strive to keep up the human connection while working remotely.

Much like the company culture we built together in the office, the foundations of our remote culture are trust, feedback, lots of communication, and a genuine concern for our employees’ mental health. Last year, we celebrated Mental Health May, raised awareness for Movember, and we plan to continue these efforts in 2021. More than the daily interactions in a work context, such as daily standups, retros and other team meetings, our goal with these initiatives is to create opportunities for people to engage in a casual context, as they would in the office.

Here are some examples of the current practices in place to keep the team in touch:

• Theme of the month (at the moment, it’s Resolutions January);
• Bi-weekly quiz;
• Remote happy-hour;
• Topic-led discussions;
• Call bingo — how many team mates have you called?;
• Spontaneous virtual lunch;
• Spontaneous virtual coffee breaks;
• Weekly internal newsletter with updates from every team.

All the initiatives are voluntary, but we do feel they make a difference by creating pleasant, after work, informal moments to play online games, catch up, talk about current affairs and just share some laughs or anecdotes. And, of course, asynchronous communication also plays a very big role in fostering interactions during the workday that make people feel less alone, even if they are physically alone working from home.

Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

Technology keeps us connected, but is this a double-edged sword?

Technology undeniably plays a role in how we experience remote work and remote get togethers. They would literally not be possible without it, and new social apps and platforms are always up and coming. However, even after 2020, the debate if technology impairs our social interactions and our ability to connect remains unsettled.

One the one hand, it is the facilitator of all the virtual interactions we strongly rely upon in today’s remote and globalised world. On the other hand, it has greatly contributed to the alienation from real-life connections and communities, even in the pre-pandemic world. But could online socialisation make up for genuine interpersonal interactions now that we can’t do it in person?

According to Business Insider Intelligence, “over three billion people, or 80.7% of internet users worldwide, will use a social network at least once per month in 2020. This is nearly 150 million more global social network users than Insider Intelligence’s pre-pandemic estimate” [6].The use of social media greatly increased during 2020 not only because confined people were bored, but also because they craved connection and interaction with others.

Sociologists and scholars have been discussing virtual communities for years. In theory, an online community is formed around sharing common interests, ideas, values and feelings on the Internet. Much like groups and communities are formed in the physical, tangible world. Also, both types of spaces also share the same reasons for people to join them: information exchange, friendship, recreation, learning, working, etc [7].

There aren’t enough studies yet to suggest that online socialisation could replace fulfilling real-life interactions, and to some degree this is a matter of personal preference and personality. However, in circumstances like the ones we have experienced in 2020 and are experiencing in early 2021, this is the best possible alternative, and its positive impact on combatting isolation and loneliness shouldn’t be overlooked.

Conclusion: Make your team your virtual community

This notion of virtual socialisation is exactly what we at tb.lx seek to establish in a remote setting: A community that offers opportunities for bonding, expression and conversation, as well as a strong remote culture where everyone feels involved and like they belong.

To learn more about our insights, best practices and guidelines around remote work, please check the open-source documents listed below.

Our Remote Guidelines:

1. Remote Work Guidelines: https://github.com/tblxio/remote-first/blob/master/Remote-work-guidelines.pdf
2. Remote-First Guidelines: https://github.com/tblxio/remote-first/blob/master/remote-first-guidelines.pdf
3. Remote Initiatives: https://github.com/tblxio/remote-first/blob/master/remote_initiatives.pdf
4. The Secret Recipe: https://github.com/tblxio/remote-first/blob/master/Secret-recipe-for-remote-first.pdf

Sources:

1. “Campaign to End Loneliness — Risk to Health” https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/threat-to-health/
2. Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World” https://www.vivekmurthy.com/together-book
3. “Work and the Loneliness Epidemic” https://hbr.org/2017/09/work-and-the-loneliness-epidemic
4. “Sozinho em Casa ou o Lado Negro do Teletrabalho” https://www.ver.pt/sozinho-em-casa-ou-o-lado-negro-do-teletrabalho/
5. “Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150158/
6. “Social Media Users Report: Latest stats and trends by through 2024 by platform and location” https://www.businessinsider.com/global-social-network-users-report
7. “Towards a Definition of Virtual Community” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336594918_Towards_a_Definition_of_Virtual_Community

Carlota Almeida works as a Social Media Specialist at tb.lx in Lisbon, Portugal.