How to Make Friends While Working from Home? Ask These Office Newbies

As I often do, I reached out to the LinkedIn community to find out about how they build and foster work friendships — especially in a hybrid world. While I can’t feature all of their comments, you can find them by clicking here. In other words, it’s completely within your right to decide that you don’t want to invest in friendships at work. I still encourage you to stick around to read what people have to say about the topic.

Sort of always keep your relationship professional when hanging out with friends from work. Make sure lines are never crossed (ie romantic relationships, etc.) and never inappropriate. I have done a LOT of favors for a lot of people at work, but also good to know they appreciate it. Getting into romantic relationships with coworkers is a generally bad idea, because if you later on become a manager or boss of them that is going to get you into trouble and can get you fired.

Follow up on chat

While how to make friends when you work from home tempting to slip into a life of pajamas and unwashed hair, fight the urge! Get up, get dressed and get on-screen—with your camera on—during virtual meetings. Speak up, especially about the successes of colleagues and those on your team. When you can go into the office for meetings and social events, do so.

• Also, what if the company that you work for is very small or is in an area that’s more secluded from the rest of your employees?
• Not only will you have more friends, but you’ll also be able to tap into a larger network of people when you’re working on a big project or need help with something.
• She is the founder of Travel with Meena, a travel site working to center the stories of travelers of color.
• The alternative of not sharing and not establishing friendships is that so much of the “real” parts of our lives have to be separated from the “work” parts.
• When you’re stuck at home, there’s no similar casual hangout, but just being in the office isn’t the solution, as tempting as it might be to think so.
• Traditional office-based workers may turn to friends on social media for a break from the grind.

It can be difficult to make friends when you move to a new city, start a new job, or even if you’ve been working at the same company for years. With more and more people working remotely, it can be tricky to socialize and build relationships with your colleagues. Here are some tips for making friends and building relationships while working remotely. Yes, working from home can make it more difficult to meet people and form relationships. However, with a bit of effort and creativity, you can still connect with others in your area and expand your social circle.

Join a Group, Team, or Class

Gallup also found a concrete link between having a best friend at work and the amount of effort a worker expends on their job. When we share our experiences, it often reminds us that others have gone through similar ones. Speak up during Q&A sessions, or even when logging in and greeting everyone. For this, going up and introducing yourself is always the best way to make friends. This will develop the foundation for future relationships, especially if you will be involved in cross-departmental work. Also, you may find unexpected common interests or friends in common around the office.

• It can be especially difficult to make friends when you’ve recently moved to a new city or started a new job, but there are lots of ways to meet interesting people.
• You might primarily choose to partake in these initiatives because you want to help your local community or because it instills a sense of purpose.
• I know, actually opening up a bit and talking to people?
• Here are five simple ways to make friends at a hybrid workplace, even if you’re an introvert.
• You can also reach out to new acquaintances or colleagues and see if they want to chat.
• But a big part of what’s still missing is the emotional piece—that ineffable digital experience that can replicate the feeling of presence we can only seem to get offline.

Because here’s what I’ve found, when you focus on making genuine connections with other humans, the “what you do part,” that tends to unfold naturally when the time is right. And you’re gonna wind up describing your work in the context of the human that’s in front of you. And, most important, it’ll be fresh and it won’t be formulic. You might primarily choose to partake in these initiatives because you want to help your local community or because it instills a sense of purpose. But volunteering at work is also a great way to meet more people within your organization and develop friendships.

How to succeed in a job interview

B-School Whether you’re brand new to business or established and ready to grow, B-School will challenge you to execute at your highest level. As a new employee, it’s well worth getting to know your colleagues on an individual basis. Many organizations boast an extensive range of special interest groups designed to boost employee engagement and workplace satisfaction. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. Krista GrayKrista Gray is a web producer and freelance writer who lives in San Francisco. When she’s not working with clients through her company GoldSquare, she loves reading, traveling, and learning new things.