(Lost) Human Connection in a Remote Work Culture
Probably we can all agree that the pandemic and working remotely changed our lives in many ways. As COVID began many of us started to struggle to keep in touch and retain that human connection with our colleagues while working remotely and in isolation …
In our last edition of the WaveMakers Connect, we wanted to take a closer look into the topic of (Lost) Human Connection in a Remote Work Culture together with amazing WaveMakers alumna and WaveMakers brand ambassador, Natalia.
Did you know that 51% of people are struggling with feeling connected with their work? (source: 2021 Digital Workplace Trends&Insights Research)
That is quite shocking, right? For our speaker, Natalia Siemiazsko, the topic of the event was also very important for her personally, close to her heart and what she had experienced first-hand since the start of the pandemic and working remotely.
Most people were kind of pushed into this new reality of working from home. One day we were all going to the office, meeting our colleagues and having “hallway chats” and kind of overnight everything shifted towards working remotely. We started living this new reality in isolation.
At WaveMakers, we were curious about what implications did that have on our personal and professional lives.
Through a discussion, we took a closer look at different challenges that people experienced during the pandemic and the “new normal”. What is important to note here is that what might be a blessing for someone, might be a curse for somebody else. We are all unique (amazing) individuals who experience the same situations differently. Challenges that people experience varied a lot, but the biggest ones with remote work tend to be:
- Overworking and not knowing when to close the laptop
- Difficulties building trust: especially with new team members or hires from other departments
- Integrating human touch into contact with other people online
- Feeling uninvolved in the decisions of the team
- Working and living spaces becoming one: we started living, working, sleeping — all in the same place.
- Not taking breaks or lunch breaks anymore, as people are available for calls and meetings at different times
- Discussing emotionally complex topics that require vulnerability online
- Missing colleagues to discuss ideas and brainstorm: more challenging to come into creativity mode
- Real connections to people from other departments
An interesting point was as well that sometimes we might not even realize what exactly is missing, and only get a feeling of “that something” when we meet people face to face again. It’s the contrast of the things we were missing: all these hues and things we do as humans. For example, body language: in the middle of the video call you don’t sense it but might not even realize it until you have meetings face to face again. We are humans, we need the genuine human connection, which is so much more difficult to sense through the camera and online.
The impact of the digital workplace on social interactions with the start of the pandemic definitely was definitely huge. We all experienced different challenges and perspectives, but the digital workplace was a NEW REALITY for most of us.
It is important to point out that remote work brought a lot of advantages to some as well.
It’s nice, I am sitting next to my kids whole day and before I barely saw them
I could take care of my sick family members …
Being able to spend more time with family, loved ones and kids was a positive change for many — each and everyone’s circumstances at home are different as well and so are our experiences.
Learnings and takeaways:
Keep in touch with yourself:
It is really important to stay in dialogue with yourself, and find the human connection with yourself to then be able to connect with others and go through these challenging times: keep listening to yourself and to sometimes change the scenery, go out, make your eyes see something different, breathe the fresh air, move and better connect with yourself.
Make room for personal and authentic communication with others: Check in with people and your colleagues and lead the example to be vulnerable, share things and open up to people — be your authentic self. You never know who it might inspire to share something with you as well.
Find balance:
Finding your own style and working style might be challenging, especially when working from home. Try to listen to yourself and figure out which days you feel more like “socializing” and which days you prefer to work in isolation and totally focused without distractions. You know best.
Be proactive:
Join programs (WaveMakers Program for example), courses, classes or anything else if you miss that human connection. Natalia even recommended taking more initiative & reach out to teammates and other coworkers as well or even propose team bonding and improving solutions to your managers.
Final thoughts
- What is a blessing for you might be a curse for someone else, so never judge situations based on your personal view and experience only
- You are the architect of your relationships with others
- Own the responsibility for the first step to conscious communication as opposite to “waiting for” mindset: ask for help, ask to be included, ask how others are doing and if they need something?
- Reframe the idea of leadership to navigate yourself and others better : I am a leader of my life!
It’s myself who can change a lot — isn't that empowering?
We want to say big thanks to Natalia for this absolutely inspiring and amazing WaveMakers Connect event! Would you like to become one of our WaveMakers speakers? Or maybe share an idea for a topic? Reach out on LinkedIn or Instagram.
We are also starting the WaveMakers Program in July! Join our 6-week WaveMakers program to discover the leader inside of you and expand your circle of influence! Sign up here! 🌊
