Ways to grow closer to coworkers, family, and/or friends during social distancing.
7-minute read
Just because we’re practicing social distancing in the physical sense, doesn’t mean we have to feel distant. At LifeLabs Learning, we’re big fans of the reframe. Instead of viewing social distancing as isolation, what if we chose to view it as an opportunity to deepen our relationships?
With weeks of quarantine under our belts, we adaptive human beings have adjusted our routines and daily lives to fit into the constraints of social distancing. Now the challenges we face have shifted. We’ve grown fatigued of Zoom calls, have settled into our remote work space, and find it difficult to delineate between Monday and Thursday.
Even though we’re more well-adjusted than we were a month ago, opportunities remain to use this time with intention. After all, we can’t predict how the next few weeks (months) will evolve.
What we can do, though, is continue to grow closer to our coworkers, family, and friends. Regardless of physical boundaries, research shows that communication and belonging foster perceived proximity. During uncertainty and crisis, the brain takes comfort in and craves direction. Let’s use this time to amplify the areas that we can control!
Here are three approaches to build engagement, foster belonging, and nurture connection with loved ones during these uncertain times. Even though we might be contained in a physical box, our community doesn’t have to be!
At LifeLabs Learning, one of our values is Always Be Learning. We’re passionate about connecting with one another, and demarcating progress along the way. That’s why we seek opportunities to expand our own knowledge, hold each other accountable, and reinvigorate our childlike curiosity. This learning mentality of course applies in the work that we do, but also to deepening our relationships with the self and one another. Here are some ideas that we’ve been integrating at LifeLabs.
Pro-tip: Use these approaches in the workplace and at home! Who says ‘social closening’ has to be confined to the workplace? Take your social closening practices on the metaphorical road, and use them to connect with friends, family, and communities!
Whether at work, with family or friends, or with a partner, communication in times like these is key! When in doubt, err on the side of over-communication. Why? Communication leads to clear expectations, and ensures team alignment. Both of these contribute to collaboration and building trust, thus, social closening.
Here are ways to make sure everyone is on the same page:
For example, at LifeLabs, we text and call for two reasons: 1) emergencies (last minute changes, travel challenges, etc.) and 2) personal communication (birthdays, to say hello, etc.). What’s important about this? It promotes closed loop communication. What we don’t want is task prompts coming through email, in-person, gchat, and text messages. That’s the fast track to amygdala hijacking!
Here are three small steps to get you started:
- Identify pain points within the organization. What optimization opportunities exist?
- Pull for ideas from the team. What’s their experience like with this pain point?
- Open call for a task force. Who is interested in the topic and has the bandwidth to focus on this topic?
Team newsletter
Channel norms
Connection opportunities
Meeting best practices
Company meeting information
Project processes
Feedback norms
What would you add?
Pro-tip: For more remote work insights, check out the LifeLabs Learning: Complete Remote Work Playbook.
Just because we’re in quarantine doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate! Quite the contrary, in fact. Sharing individual success and celebrating team success is more important than ever. What if we acknowledge that times are hard right now, and reframe the uncertainty as an opportunity to iterate and demarcate progress along the way?
Reflection Questions:
What have you achieved as an individual/company since this time last year?
What’s one small win?
What surprised you?
What did you learn in the process of becoming?
What could have been 10% better?
What are the possibilities now?
What’s one small change you could make moving forward?
What are your next steps?
In an ideal scenario, what do you want to see this time next year? Dream big!
What is one way I can support my mind/body/spirit right now?
What’s one random act of kindness I might try or witnessed this week?
What’s a memorable moment or tradition you have around transportation?
How have you recently used the skills required to be successful at work outside of the workplace?
What’s the thing you’re most looking forward to after quarantine is over?
What’s something that’s brought you joy during this uncertain time?
What’s something you’ve learned about yourself, your partner, family, friends, or company during COVID-19?
Pro-tip: Find a way to play! As adults, we don’t play enough. Play is important because it actually helps us deepen our own resiliency. What’s one way you can integrate play into your daily life?
Do you feel closer to family, friends, and coworkers already? I do! Social distancing protocols have challenged all of us to find new ways of staying connected. Even though we might feel better accustomed to our new ‘normal’ than we did a few weeks ago, it’s still not totally comfortable. That’s okay! A quick reframe: consider how you feel now compared to a few weeks ago. Are you in a space of acceptance, denial, grief? My guess is that you’ve moved along the Kubler-Ross Change Curve. Perhaps you’ve oscillated, and that’s okay, too! The point is that progress is progress.
Your mini-mission, should you choose to accept it, is to try one of these approaches this week.
Bonus: After you try it, share the results with your team, a friend, and/or in our comment field!
Happy social closening!