Working from home has changed our social lives, but can we make work friends remotely?

For the most part, Australian workers have welcomed the shift to remote and hybrid work with open arms. Working from home has meant less time spent commuting to and from the office, more time with our families and even significant financial gains.Yet, predictably, this seismic shift in the way we work also has a negative side. Australian workers are feeling increasingly lonely and isolated, with national surveys by the Australian Institute of Health revealing that over half of respondents felt lonelier than before the COVID pandemic.

Where does this leave us in the age of remote work, and are remote workers destined for isolation? The reality is that it’s never been harder to make real work friendships than when working remotely. Yet, while it’s easy to reach pessimistic conclusions, the answers to these questions may not yet be set in stone.

The social impact of remote work

From working in close consultation with employees across a range of industries, we know how important work friendships and a sense of team comradery are to our lives. Spending time with people ‘in real-life’ is an integral part of the human experience, and the people we find ourselves working with can become our closest friends and our trusted confidants.

The chats with our co-workers over coffee, the team lunches and the after work dinners are sacrificed when we move our workspace into our homes. It’s therefore not surprising that a study of 1200 remote workers by US company JobSage revealed that 2 out of 3 respondents had not made a single friend at work.

Isolation, loneliness and difficulty making friends – the evidence suggests that working from home may ultimately be a detriment to our social lives. Yet, interestingly, participants in an Edith Cowan University study reported increased social connection as a positive effect of remote work. The researchers think that this could be attributed to video calls replacing emails – offering a small window into co-workers’ lives and encouraging face-to-face interaction. Let’s also keep in mind that working from home provides us with more free time to spend with our family and friends outside the office, which may have a positive knock-on effect into our work lives.

If we step back and take a broader view of this issue, we see that the shift to working from home is still in its infancy. We could even say that the jury is not yet out on how the remote work revolution will change our social lives and alter our friendships. While this might make some employees moving into remote jobs apprehensive, it also provides us with an opportunity to shape our work and social lives. This might seem like a daunting task, but we’ve compiled some proven methods that anyone can use to foster social connections and build networks while working from home.

5 ways to make real connections working remotely

1. Keep in regular contact with your colleagues

Keeping in regular contact with your colleagues is a first step in building or maintaining friendships while working from home. Do your co-workers live near you? Suggest going for a coffee to turn your remote colleagues into real friends. If this isn’t feasible, suggest a quick remote video call on a Friday afternoon to build rapport with them. It doesn’t need to be a lengthy commitment, but checking in with each other is the perfect way to start building and growing social connections.

2. In person work events

If your company is running in person work-events, this is a great opportunity to meet your colleagues and start making real friends at work. Although it can feel intimidating to turn up at these events by yourself and meet your team (maybe even for the first time!) your colleagues will be delighted to see you in person.

3. Visit the office if you can

If your organisation has hybrid working arrangements and a physical office, take any and every opportunity you can to go in and meet your co-workers in person. Similarly, if your co-workers are going out for a drink or a meal after work, don’t be afraid to head in and meet them even if you work remotely full time.

4. Use your workplace group chat

The group chat can be a great way to connect with your co-workers and get to know them on a less formal basis than through video meetings or emails. Foster this chat as a comfortable and less formal environment where you can share jokes, music and arrange social events with your team.

5. Use a coworking space

Have you tried connecting with your colleagues, but distance and other factors have made it seem impossible to form real friendships? Branch out of your organisation and seek to make social connections by utilising a coworking space. These spaces can be found in almost any major city now, and they’re a great way to get the feel of an office environment with none of the added pressure.

All the implications of remote work are yet to be known, but one thing is clear: friendships at work make a real difference to our lives. Let’s not allow the changing nature of work deprive us of these essential social connections.

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