Rituals in a virtual workspace
Importance of developing and sustaining connections within a remote workforce.
Subconsciously, we yearn to connect and bond with the people in our social clusters. However, ever since the pandemic, we have been confined to our private silos, which disrupted our lives’ personal and professional routines. Consequently, the day-to-day interactions with our colleagues and clients, which came naturally back during the pre-pandemic days, now have to be forced to some extent. This article will expound on the importance of workmate interactions and integrating sociability into a virtually connected work environment.
Why do we need rituals?
Connecting & bonding
The feeling of ‘I belong here’ comes when we form emotional bonds with our fellow humans. We need to create a safe, no-judgement space where people feel it’s okay to be vulnerable, crack a joke, show their messy faces on camera, and be their natural selves. Meaningful conversation is the backbone of any strong relationship. It is a great morale booster and productivity enhancer at the workplace.
Dissolve the silos
After the pandemic, a large portion of the workforce has shifted to a work from home model. Many technology companies have taken this shift further by enhancing their remote working policies. We can see that the collaboration networks are segmenting to form individual siloed operating in a hub and spoke model rather than an interconnected web. We need to nudge and encourage individuals in a team to intermingle, help them realize they are working in a group and their managers are not their only support systems.
Learn from one and another
Building a bond between the people tends to have a magical effect on the team — they start to learn from one another. So people need to have access to formal and informal networks to become a conduit through which stories, ideas and knowledge can be shared. The stronger the bonds, the easier it gets.
How & What?
Implementing practices that came naturally before
People often forget that they have others in the team they can rely on. For instance, they might feel their friends are too busy with their own work and find it hard to burden them with more. Or, they are new to the team and do not feel comfortable enough to reach out to others, not knowing how they might react. It is helpful to remind these individuals that it is okay to ask for help. We need to give them enough time within their daily schedule to support their colleagues or even befriend the new ones. Nudge them if we have to until the act of seeking help from a colleague become a natural thing to do on a virtual setup.
Integrating new office rituals
The water cooler chat that we relied on earlier does not happen naturally in a remote setup, and we know of the essence of networking in building a stronger team. Many groups have come up with innovative initiatives such as happy hours, open book chat sessions, gaming, watching movies and many more. Integration of these rituals is of paramount importance if we care about enriching the culture at our workplace, especially the fully remote ones. Dedicate a few hours that are sprinkled across the week to connect, talk, play and bond with your teammate. If you need a ritual to make this happen, so be it.
Empathize and respect
We need to comprehend the fact that working from home has got people’s personal and professional lives intertwined. They are no longer working in a professional environment; they may have older parents, children or younger siblings. We need to understand their unique situation and act accordingly.
In short, humans as social animals need to have interactions. Of course, we may have to poke and prob until these dynamics happen naturally in a remote environment. But we gain a lot when we have a well-synchronized team.
