REMOTE (adjective) - very little connection or relationship
Heading in to this holiday season, make an effort to be genuinely connected with colleagues.
I’ve always disliked the term “remote culture” - adopted by so many startups. Remote? Who wants to be lonely, alone, disconnected?
As I wrote back in 2018 in the article "Help Your Remote Employees Build Stronger Personal Connections Through Randomness":
A desire to be connected is a fundamental human nature and, as it turns out, it may be most important in the workplace.
Studies have shown that real detrimental physiological changes can occur in employees who don’t feel connected, particularly exacerbated in times of work stress. In short, it can make you sick..
On the flip side, when you feel well connected within your company your body and mind work at a higher level.
Build a relationship culture
Encourage staff to make genuine personal connections with each other - particularly if they work remotely. I call it a "relationship culture" and described it in more detail in the article "Your Startup Can Help Fix The Loneliness Epidemic":
Instead of reinforcing remoteness and potentially amplifying issues faced by remote folks, tackle it head on: when working remotely people can feel lonely and isolated so correct that by purposefully driving relationships in everything you do.
At MX Growth, we help growing startups and small and medium businesses build a "relationship culture" despite potentially having a remote workforce.
See the things we do to help here.