Staying connected
I have recently returned from a wonderful time in New York with friends that I have known for 30 years. Because of our daily songlist and constant chat, I feel more connected to this group than ever before, despite our disparate locations of Ballarat, Glasgow, Paris and London.
And what made the trip so magical was that we could delve into deeper enriching conversations without having to waste time on catching up on what we’ve all been doing for the past few years.
It made me think about the challenges on building a culture in a hybrid world. A team might get together once a week and that time might be spent catching up and rebuilding the connection that is not there constantly. Or conversely everyone comes into the office and sits on Zoom calls all day so there isn’t much of an opportunity to connect with others.
How do we constantly connect to our colleagues and maintain that connection? There’s not a magic bullet and it’s different for everyone but there are some things that you can think about:
- Think about touch points that you can create with colleagues, particularly those that don’t happen so naturally when people are working virtually. This could be drop in lunchtime open teams calls where people can say hello and chat or working with teams open so that you have colleagues to brainstorm with or use as a sounding board
- Ensure that there are enough check-in points for people to see how they are, not just to go through their workload
- Get to know colleagues and know their interests, hobbies so that you can connect on a personal level
- Be vulnerable and share highs and lows with colleagues
- Communicate more and particularly think about how you can support newer members of staff with their induction and learning. It can feel very daunting to have to constantly call your boss to ask questions on Teams so pre-empt this with more regular communication
- Think about how you can get the most value from being in-person and ensure you schedule activities that will continue to build a strong culture
- Above all, talk to people and find out the best way to support them and stay connected to them. We don’t have to be mind readers, but we do need to communicate, listen and show empathy to forge those stronger connections


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