If you don’t have any kids or aren’t planning to, the same idea works for your pets. Dog parks and organized dog walks are an ideal way to meet other fur parents, talk about your pets, and maintain a more active lifestyle. If you weren’t sure how to make friends when you work from home, your baby or fur baby might be the answer you were looking for. Nothing says that you need to go out into the real world necessarily to learn how to make friends when you work from home. Sometimes, it’s the easiest and most obvious things that work better than others.

However, if you are one of many employees who feel lonely when working from home, you are not alone. Luckily, there are multiple ways to build genuine friendships when working, even when you only commute to the coffee machine. At Afni, we understand how vital it is to find a community that shares your passions.

• Joining or creating a group for remote workers who like to travel can help you make new connections and connect with others in your situation and creates built-in networking opportunities.
• If you want to make friends, don’t assume that your future friends will have the same background, gender, or age as you.
• Joining a private Facebook group or chatroom with other parents can be an excellent way to connect and make friends.
• Try to organise regular monthly catch-ups in person or over video chat.
• Propose quarterly team meetings, annual company retreats or regional meetups.
• If you weren’t sure how to make friends when you work from home, your baby or fur baby might be the answer you were looking for.

You need to get time on the calendars of people that you don’t run into every day without necessarily a formal agenda or set of objectives. So both with lateral and hierarchical relationships, I think what we’re learning is there’s a critical mass of in-person time that makes it easier to bond. And once you clear that threshold, which seems to be around the two-and-a-half or three day-a-week mark, that extra day or two doesn’t necessarily add that much. Social isolation while working remotely can be mitigated through intentional strategies and consistent effort. Building connections positively impacts your well-being, professional success and career advancement.

Learn

Give them their space, and consider connecting with colleagues who are more public and open to interacting on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and beyond. That colleague who’s always sharing recipes and photos of the gorgeous meals they make on their personal blog will probably appreciate your likes and comments on their posts. If you’re struggling to come up with the right words, ask your new colleague to tell you more about their role or their team. You can also ask what advice they may have for a new hire.

Do things with people IRL

Obviously, if you are trying to build friendships at work, communication is incredibly important. Specifically, I think talking on the phone versus email or IM can really help. Being on the phone with someone facilitates ‘small talk’, which is really important in getting to know someone a bit better and to check in with them personally. Making an effort to get to know more people at your job can pay off in the long run. Not only will you have more friends, but you’ll also be able to tap into a larger network of people when you’re working on a big project or need help with something.

You don’t have to spend extra time traveling by public transport and eventually getting late to your workspace. Virtual networking sessions allow you to show expertise, learn from others, and forge professional relationships. Social media groups are also convenient for sharing insights and making new friends.

Take the initiative in Building Social Opportunities

It’s important not only to just check in with them but to show that you care and are paying attention by bringing up previous conversations. To build that friendship, you need to act like a friend would and care about the person’s life, inside and outside of work. Well, it’s finding fellow remote workers in your area and working together at each other’s apartments, at people’s favorite coffee shops or coworking spaces, and connecting and working.

This is a great way to meet new people and learn more about your company or community. And finally, don’t forget that social media can be a great tool for meeting new people and keeping in touch with old friends. Meetup is great if you just want to get out and meet people that are interested in the same things you are. There are many interest groups where you can expand your friendship and professional circle. With some meetup groups, it can feel cliquey and difficult to approach people because some groups’ are close-knit especially when they’ve been running for several years. “For the foreseeable future, we how to make friends when you work from home are not returning to an office community,” she says.

Remote Happy Hours

It might be time to bring this retro fad back, because it cuts down on screen time but still allows you to connect with people in a more organic way. It may feel weird to randomly call a co-worker, but if you use a little planning, talking on the phone can be a great way to collaborate, debrief, or decompress. One way is to join social media groups or forums related to your interests. This can be a great way to meet like-minded people and start conversations.

One significant drawback of coworking is the rather high cost of renting a workplace, but all costs are fully justified. Talking to a barista while hanging out in a coffee shop, asking a consultant in a store to help you choose some products.

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• Advocate for regular team-building activities and social opportunities that cater to the needs of remote employees.
• The good news is there is nothing about creative collaboration that requires spontaneity.
• Despite remote work’s virtual nature, you have an opportunity to connect with other people in your local community.
• Reconsider how you network.Networking doesn’t have to be uncomfortable, awkward, scary, or even planned; in fact, you can network just about anywhere.

You should approach friendship by being open to meeting new people and sharing new experiences. Here are five strategies for building relationships with coworkers virtually in today’s current office environment— which is more focused on remote work and hybrid schedules than in-office work. But interacting doesn’t always have to mean hopping on a video call. Fill in the gaps by joining conversations in Slack, sharing emoji reactions, and liking social posts. The more you engage with a person, the stronger a professional relationship—and personal friendship—you can build.

Follow up on chat

While preventing social isolation depends on your actions, you also have the power to influence your organization’s remote work culture. If you’re hustling toward a fitness goal, there’s undoubtedly a community out there sweating along with you. No-gym-required communities such as Tone it Up and Lauren Gleisberg followers can seek out hashtags and almost always find a local meet-up of like-minded ladies. Whatever lights your fire after you close the laptop is the perfect gateway to a new friendship. Maybe your local soup kitchen has a rooftop garden that is always looking for a few spare hands. Companies across the United States are delaying their back-to-the-office dates.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t any upsides to remote work. You have more freedom, such as the flexibility of managing your own time to even working in sweatpants all day. But when you’re a remote worker, you are often a team of one, so getting out of the home office to meet others or socializing with your team might not come naturally. Working remote or working from home, whether you’re running your own business or are on a distributed team, can be lonely.

Grab breakfast with a neighbor, spend extra time with family before school or take your dog to the park during lunch breaks. These micro-interactions throughout your day can significantly impact your overall sense of connection and well-being while working remotely. We all know that one of the best ways to meet new people is to switch up the landscape. It might not be news to start working from your local coffee shop, but approaching it a little differently is the key to making new connections.

Luckily, there are many ways to connect with people online, such as through video calls or social media. Local coffee shops provide a great opportunity to meet new people and make lasting friendships. One of the best ways to make friends at work is to be proactive and start conversations with your colleagues. For example, ask them about their weekend plans, or strike up a discussion about something you read in the news.