It is harder in the remote world to keep in touch with all the random colleagues we used to see every day: the security folks, the office staff, folks in other departments, and so on.
That’s why we have to develop a web of new communication modes — below are some examples I’ve found helpful:
- Writing on LinkedIn: I can’t count the number of times I’ve had random conversations with colleagues outside my team because they messaged me about something I posted (and we inevitably ended up talking about kids, sports, music, etc.)
- Being active on LinkedIn & other platforms: I see what other colleagues are up to, comments on their posts, or simply like their posts (kind of equivalent to the “head nod” on the hallway when you used to see them!)
- Being active on company’s internal networks, like Chatter, intraweb, Slack, etc.: I’ve met or said hello to a few new colleagues that way
- Setting up random Zoom side calls: If I’m in a big meeting also attended by a colleague I haven’t seen in a while, I message them right after and hop on a 5-10 min call with them just to catch up
Unimodal communication may have worked when everyone was in our field of view. Absent that, we should develop a communication web.