April 7, 2020
Virtual Socializing While Social Distancing
Some of you have completed week three of social distancing through working from home and some of you have completed one week or less. Whatever the situation, some may have experienced the social isolation that can result when members of an office team are no longer working together in the physical office locations but now virtually, including a variety of locations and personal situations.
It has been said that for a remote team to be successful they need to experience three things. These include clarity of what is expected from them as an employee, steady communication from their supervisor, and opportunities to feel connected as a team. In going with the theme, “connection before content,” let’s start with how to feel connected while working as a virtual team. Do you miss doing any of these things with your co-workers?
• Having lunch with them
• Stopping by someone’s office to ask about their family
• Meeting up in the break room just to chat for a minute
• Going out after work on Friday or “Taco Tuesday”
• Celebrating special occasions of team members
• Hearing your co-workers laugh
Personal relationships are important to building trust and collaboration among team members. The need for these interactions has not changed. However, how to create new opportunities for social interactions of the team has. Using a variety of our technology resources such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WebX and many others make it a priority to try one of the following this week.
• Host a virtual sack lunch party while playing a game such as Pictionary
• Have everyone wear their favorite hat or t-shirt during virtual office conference and share why it is their favorite
• Host an April birthdays celebration by having each birthday person share what was happening in the world the year they were born. And, everyone can “bring” their favorite treat
• Host a Taco Tuesday where everyone can share a picture of their favorite taco including the recipe
• Finally, word on the internet is that some of you are planning a virtual happy hour on Friday-Enjoy It!
Just remember, it is important to meet fellow co-workers and our audience “where they are” in adapting to the work environment that we have found ourselves in today. Some may eagerly adapt to this new form of socializing and some may choose not to participate until they see how it is working for others. That is OK!
“Resilency is about how connected we are to each other, not about how we muscle our way through on our own.” Cy Wakeman
The following is a recording of an hour long virtual meeting hosted by eXtension. It talks about being a part of a remote team and shares some ideas of how these teams build opportunities to socialize into their virtual working environment.