Lesley Carhart Dec 8, 2022

I wish I could reach the correct audience to suggest to that, if you are going to work full time remote, especially for a mostly remote company for the first time, it is absolutely crucial that you learn how people communicate and actively participate in it. Not just how work information is disseminated. Join your “random” and hobby Teams or Slack channels. Meet people not on your direct team. Join a social group if your company sponsors one you find interesting. It indeed takes effort as an introvert - but while working remote you are not building relationships organically like in an office, at all. Those work relationships are important to getting stuff done in business, being noticed when opportunities come up, emotionally feeling part of a team and mission, and staying mentally healthy. We spend a big chunk of our lives working!

Over the last 5 years of working and managing a team FT remote, this social interactivity is one of the top indicators I’ve observed of whether someone will succeed and be balanced and happy, long term - or whether they will burn out and be left behind. The people who often vanish the fastest never chatted except when prompted to do so for business, never turned their camera on, nor set a profile image.

I’m not telling you to step way outside your comfort zone. I’m not saying there aren’t situations where it’s necessary to turn off the camera. I’m not saying you’ll automatically fail if you never socialize. I’m just giving you some advice based on hard life lessons of watching people thrive versus be unhappy.

Show threadNicTea
@hacks4pancakes The company I work for has transformed from fully on-prem to almost fully remote. We've tried many things, but culture has definitely suffered, especially for those who started after the transition.
Dec 8, 2022 at 7:56amWeb
Show threadGatewood Green (Woody) 🌵🏜️ 🐾Dec 8, 2022

@nictea @hacks4pancakes I’ve been in a company that transitioned (COVID forced) and one that was always remote. Culture is EVERYTHING and starts at the top. In the forced remote we struggled to rebuild the in office culture online. Mostly because leadership didn’t have a cultural direction to manage the situation. Those of us who knew each other maintained our connections, but new people definitely struggled. The company never built the online social fabric in Teams that naturally exists in the office.

I now work for an internationally distributed company that was always remote. The entire culture is built around remote work. There is a huge social fabric in Slack with tons of social channels about every topic you can possibly image. All teams have “internal” and “external” channels to facilitate inter- and intra-team communication. During work hours social hours are regular and encouraged. Our formal, strongly encouraged mentorship program is built around remote connections. You are encouraged to be as active or not on Slack (even in the more formal channels) as suits you and your job role.

As a in office person most of my over two decade career, I’ve had to learn the new ways, and quite frankly it’s been great. It was over a year after accepting the job before I met my first coworker in person (my manager, after 13 months on the job), And while meeting in person was absolutely great, it in no way felt like I was meeting them for the first time.

It can work with great culture and there are a lot of companies that have always been doing it or made a good transition to it, but a good remote culture will not happen by accident.