Remote work is lonely. Let’s stop pretending otherwise.
You don’t bump into people. You don’t overhear conversations. You don’t share meals. The ambient human contact that offices provide for free disappears entirely.
This matters. Humans need connection. Teams that feel connected collaborate better, stick around longer, and weather hard times together.
So build it intentionally.
What works:
- A dedicated social channel with zero work talk. Share wins, weekend photos, random thoughts.
- Optional virtual coffees, randomly paired, no agenda, just conversation.
- Team channels for non-work interests. The running club. The parents group. The music nerds.
- Async check-ins that go beyond status updates. “What’s one thing you’re excited about this week?”
What doesn’t work:
- Mandatory fun. The moment you require participation, you’ve killed the vibe.
- Forced vulnerability. “Share your deepest fear with the team” is a therapy exercise, not a team activity.
- Social activities that favor extroverts. Not everyone wants to play games on Zoom.
- Over-engineering it. You’re creating space, not running a program.
The key word is “optional”. Create the spaces. Stock them with low-pressure activities. Then let people choose their level of participation.
Some will show up to everything. Some will lurk. Some will skip it entirely. All of these are fine.
Your job is to make connection available and easy.
Your job is not to make people connect.