Once again, many countries have entered a nationwide lockdown. For the most part, I think people are getting used to staying at home and finding awesome things to occupy or distract themselves. It can also be said that working from home isn’t that bad anymore unlike the first few months of this pandemic.
However, one of the major setbacks in working remotely is the fact that you can’t make new friends at work easily. If you are a new employee in the company but starts working remotely, you can surely feel this impact and be greatly affected. Having someone to talk to about work can be a lifesaver for most people, especially if they need support to cope with the difficulties of remote working or if they have any problems or questions with their new tasks.
For most remote work employees, they have already accepted that they cannot have work friends because they believed that it’s impossible. Nevertheless, there can be several ways to make friends from work even if you are stuck at home.
Here are some tips that can help you to start creating new friends from work while working remotely:
Visit the office when and if you can
Some companies offer remote work as an option for their employees, especially those who can do their jobs at home or those who have special circumstances that require them to be at home most of the time. If you can, try to schedule your work that includes a visit to the office.
This will help you to meet your co-workers and improve your work relationships with them. If you live in another part of the world and there’s a branch of your office in your country, check which events you can attend and use that chance to see your colleagues.
Unfortunately, it does not apply to freelancers like me as I can’t be flying all over the world to meet my clients (oh, how I wish!).
Make the effort to meet new people
Even though you are doing remote work, it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of your social life too. If you want to have work friends, you should look for all the avenues available to make new connections. Social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn can help you find people with the same interests and work as you do. You can also keep in touch with your co-workers through video conference tools and messaging apps. If you can, organise some online events that are not work-related and can fit with everyone’s schedule to have some quality time and team bonding. Start reaching out and surely, people will appreciate your efforts.
I do bump with my freelancing friends from time to time as I have also grown my network by introducing friends to start their freelance journey. Having a good freelancing network in this career can be one of the best things to have since we can support and motivate each other even if we are in different fields. Moreover, it feels so much better when you know people who can personally understand your rants and frustrations about those clients who ghosted you.
Do something good for others
Although you are not always in the office because of your remote work, don’t let it stop you from taking part in the office events or do something for your co-workers. Try to reach out if they are celebrating something important or let them know that you are willing to listen if they have any problems.
Even just a simple hello or thank you can do a lot to show that you care for your colleagues. When you genuinely know and trust each other after some time, a great and mutual friendship between you and your co-workers will surely be formed.
Conclusion
Remote working is here to stay and you must be able to find ways to adapt to its ever-changing environment. Don’t allow yourself to stay lonely when working remotely because there are many ways to make new work friends nowadays. Without a question, having a happy and balanced work-life will improve your productivity. Moreover, having work friends in this line of career will absolutely be a plus. Follow the tips that I recommended above and I’m sure that you can develop better work connections even more.
Do you have any suggestions on how to make friends with your colleagues while working remotely? If you have a different experience, come and share in the comments below!
For more tips on how to survive working from home, here are some up my sleeves:
10 Ways to Prevent Yourself from Doing Overtime when Working From Home
8 Mistakes To Avoid While Working From Home
10 Sure-Fire Tips to Work Productively At Home
How to Work at Home with Young Kids without Going Crazy
Can’t get enough of MiddleMe? You can find me sharing my thoughts here as well:
Instagram @kallymiddleme
Twitter (MiddleMe_net)
FaceBook (MiddleMe.net)
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kallytay
Best things in life are meant to be shared, start spreading MiddleMe around, after all, sharing is caring.
MiddleMe 
Reblogged this on Nelson MCBS.
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Thanks for sharing this out!
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A very timely post, Kally. Social inclusion regarding work is so important and being as creative as possible with that is a worthwhile thing to do, as you point out. I am very lucky I can get out and about and catch up with clients and colleagues, even 100s of kilometres away. On Wednesday, I was spending the day with a client 150kms away. They asked me that morning if I would stop off at the Bakehaus (which turns out to be the halfway point) and pick up the catering they had ordered for all the meetings they had on that day – I said not a problem. When I arrived, there were plenty of people there waiting to help me unload the food 😊
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Nice one. Thank you for sharing your positive experiences with us, Sean. Sounds like your colleagues are keepers!
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When we love working team we can get the best results. I like your post thank you so much you so nice
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Thank you so much, Abubaker.
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Great Post! Once again, Phenomenal Read!
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Thank you so much for your support!
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🤠🔥
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True, remote work is here to stay and we should adjust to it. Make it more bearable by making new friends, becoming more familiar with it. Good points.
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Thank you so much, Kinge. Have an awesome weekend!
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Welcome, Have an awesome one to.
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The post gives timely and relevant tips. Thanks for sharing!!
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Have an awesome weekend!
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You too 🙏
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Hi I have nominated you for the outstanding original blogger awardhttps://noidadotacademy.wordpress.com/2020/11/27/outstanding-original
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Awww… Thank you for your generosity ! I will check it out soon. Have a wonderful weekend !
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🤗 Same to you
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Good tips!
And as an added bonus: blogging during work hours gives you access to a whoooole load of new possible friends 😉🤭
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That’s the positive attitude I love! Awesome.
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Some of my best friends are people I have never met in person. It is possible to communicate well with people, as bloggers, we do it all the time…
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Absolutely! Somehow something somewhere we just click.
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And it’s wonderful
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Kally you are right
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Thank you!
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Great and helpful tips.
Thank you so much Kally for sharing this blog with us.
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Thank you so much!
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An outstanding approach..!😁
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Thank you!
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My pleasure Kally🙂🧡
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Hi, Kally! If you ever come to Kentucky in the USA, look up my wife and I. We have LOTS of room for guests . . . after the pandemic is under control of course. From you writings, you would be welcome at our free B&B for however long you want to visit. 🙂
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You and your wife are absolutely a delight! Thank you so much for your generosity. USA is certainly one of my dream countries to visit. Full of history and passion and love. Full of good people like you.
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Stay safe and blessed. Take care of each other and laugh daily.
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These are great reminders and many of them could work for retirees who may also feel isolated. Thanks!
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Thank you!
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Great suggestions!
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Thank you!
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While working remotely, my team has daily check-in meetings over video calls. This helps us stay in touch and provide support to each other. I like these calls because our conversations are focused, professional, but friendly (and no water cooler small talk and work gossip) 😀
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That is good that you keep in touch and maintain the awesome support! Haha. I can so tell you miss the friendly banter over the water cooler.
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Great post and we are definitely in for a change of how things were.. I actually like a lot about the changes that will be available in the future. Hope you’re well Kally, I haven’t seen you for quite awhile. ❤️ Cindy
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Big hugs and thank you. Just received a big assignment this week so I spent quite a bit of time going back and forth with the new client. Plus any spare time I had was spent online shopping for Christmas presents for the little one. Haha! She certainly deserves lots of presents for being a good girl indoor and not make mommy any more guiltier that she can’t play outdoor.
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Thanks Kally!! Glad you are busy with clients and things are going well! Oh I skipped the Shiloh g so far but those are fun days indeed for your adorable little girl!!! Enjoy the season! 💕❤️🍁big hugs back to you! 💕
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I’ve made some friends by remote working. I haven’t met them in real life yet, but we keep in touch. I hope to meet them someday.
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I have been in remote working mode from March onwards. I have a few colleagues who joined recently.
Sometimes I have audio calls with them(I am not much in favor of video calls- may be I am a bit camera shy!)and I talk of some general things as well apart from work.
I have seen that builds up their confidence and they can have someone to talk to if they need.
So we might not be meeting physically but we can still keep in touch.
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That’s really nice to hear. You don’t need video calls, voice calls will do nicely to touch base and even just a bit of chit chat.
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Nice tips👍
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Thank you and welcome to MiddleMe.
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Great post as always Kally. Life is so different for many right now and I think everyone needs friends. Just to even chat with online 🙂
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Thanks for the tips! It is hard to build relationships at a distance, but if we can form friendships online, I have to believe long-distance work friendships are also possible.
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You’re most welcome! Long distance friendships are definitely possible.
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Very good points, Kally.
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Thank you, Shira.
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