What You Can Do to Help Your Remote Workers from Becoming Too Isolated

Remote work might be a somewhat new concept for some organizations, but it has proven to be an exceptionally helpful tool to have at one’s disposal. All that said, however, there are certain weaknesses that must be addressed if you want to take full advantage of the cloud, with one of them being the disconnection that comes from remote work. What does this disconnect mean for your business?

How Has Remote Work Divided Us?

Human beings are tribal creatures by nature, so we tend to gravitate toward the people we share the most space with. It might happen with hobbies, personal beliefs, and even in the workplace. With remote work now being such a common practice, however, this kind of gravitation is no longer possible—at least, not in the same capacity.

Microsoft Provides a Perfect Example of This

Nature Human Behavior released a study analyzing how 61,000 Microsoft employees communicated with each other from December of 2019 through June 2020. This study collected data from both before and after the shift to fully remote work on March 5, 2020. Prior to this change, only 18 percent of the company’s staff worked remotely.

Through aggregating the data collected from messages, emails, calls, meetings, total hours worked per week, etc, the study showcased a key pattern. There was more time spent communicating between teams, but these communications were within their specific teams. About 25 percent less time was spent on communications between departments, and with remote work, fewer people collaborated between new contacts within the organization. Have you observed any similar trends within your own office while making this shift to remote work?

What Can Be Done About Departmental Silos?

If you want to keep departmental silos from developing, there are certain strategies you can implement. Here are a few of them:

Keep Remote Workers Connected

Isolation can creep in when you begin working remotely, and you can start to grow disconnected from the rest of your team. If you take some time to maintain connections with others within your office, you’ll be able to encourage this type of interdepartmental communication that is not limited by department or role.

Involve More People

Another way you can keep people connected is by getting them involved in important decision-making processes on the organizational level. If you give each of your employees a sense of involvement, they will want to learn and grow not just as an individual, but as a member of the collective whole.

Push For Outreach

It’s critically important for your business’ employees to have the freedom to discuss topics that are not related to your business. If you encourage your employees to discuss shared interests and make connections beyond the simple departmental ones, you can improve team building—especially amongst your remote staff.

BNMC can equip your staff with the tools they need to stay connected. To learn more, reach out to us at (978) 482-2020.