Frank Armijo is a Vice President at Lockheed Martin where his career has been spent in program operations and business development. He has invested much of his career into fostering team-centered environments. So naturally, with the forced move to remote work for so many, Mr. Armijo and other executives became focused on what it takes to ensure synergy among distributed team members and how to anticipate and meet the needs of employees trying to adjust to these new work conditions.
Below, Frank Armijo lists a number of valuable techniques that enable geographically dispersed workers to still feel connected to their company, clients, and each other.
#1 Use Your Webcam!
Never overestimate the importance of facial expressions and body language. Don't worry so much about your hair or your background — just turn that camera on! You'll be surprised how much that maintains and strengthens your connections with your fellow humans.
#2 Collaborate on Projects in Real-Time
There's nothing quite like working on a shared spreadsheet or document and seeing your team's edits and additions appear like magic. Not only is it easy to set up, but you'll find finishing projects much easier when you know your colleagues are working alongside you (despite not actually being in the room).
#3 Shift from Business to Chatty During The Last Five Minutes of Meetings
The spontaneous but oh-so-good-for-your-mental-health hallway catch-ups don't happen in a remote working situation (sadly). But you can emulate the same feeling with a quick, five-minute end-of-meeting personal casual chat. Of course, not everybody has to stay for the last five minutes. However, it gives those who miss water cooler conversations a chance to reignite their connection with team members.
#4 Infuse Your Communications with Empathy
Just because you're not face-to-face doesn't mean you should stop communicating with care. In fact, empathy and understanding are two main factors of maintaining the all-important human connection through a remote working (or schooling) environment.
When you aren't in the same space as your colleagues, you don’t pick up on body language social cues. So, take the time to ask colleagues how they’re doing, what challenges they’re running into, and more as part of intentionally
empathic communication.
#5 Don't Be Afraid to Show Your Personality When Virtually Presenting
Frank Armijo notes it's difficult enough to maintain colleagues' attention with a monotonous voice in person, let alone from behind a screen. Don't be afraid to let your uniqueness and personality shine through. After all, it's one of the best ways to feel connected with those (virtually) around you. People connect when they feel they are getting the authentic you, more than the right words it is often how you make them feel. Be yourself at all times!
Depending on the type of presentation, humor can be useful to keep the engagement and participation flowing.
#6 Use Effective Virtual Communication Apps and Software
Not all communication or collaboration-based apps were made equal — some are miles better and offer plenty of unique ways to stay connected with your team.
Several of the better ones are:
- Slack — It's a social platform made for organizations seeking accessible, seamless remote communication. The app is favored by startups, online professional groups, and tech businesses. It's a "workspace-based" design that essentially lets you set up multiple offices that hold contacts from a certain company or department.
- WhatsApp — While it started as a purely personal communication app, it's now perfect for business. It's more reliable than iMessage and has end-to-end encryption.
- Zoom — no explanation needed for this one; everybody from employees to business owners, to students used this platform over lockdown! Zoom is great for conference-style video calls.
#7 Take Part in Virtual Happy Hours
If your company runs virtual happy hours, join in! If it's your call, throw a Zoom, drop-in, no-pressure happy hour.
Simply create a Zoom meeting link and invite your team, vendors, clients, and more. It's a great way to take the pressure off and feel like a group again.
#8 Start a Joke-of-the-Day Chain
If you have been blessed with a working environment filled with fun, witty people, then sharing jokes can be a great way to maintain that humorous connection. Remote working can feel incredibly isolating, but it's amazing what a little chuckle while flicking through your emails or work messages can do to improve your mood. I always try to share Quotes of Inspiration as well. You can modify this to weekly as well for those of us not as humorous.
#9 Make Sure People Know They Can Contact You
Frank Armijo says to foster effective two-way communication and thus, connection, ensure your colleagues know that they can always ask for help or "pop-in" for a chat. They shouldn't feel worried about being a bother. Likewise, you shouldn't feel like you're bothering them if you call them unannounced during work hours.
#10 Join a Network of Like-Minded Professionals
No matter what industry you're involved in, there are people who think and work just like you. So, why not try to find them by joining an online network? Frank Armijo says ideally it should be a group of people outside your standard, day-to-day team, or organization.
It won't just help maintain human connections, but it can revitalize your whole professional life. Regularly communicating with people in your field opens doors to opportunities you may have otherwise missed.
