Welcome to the new pandemic wave.
While the well-known pandemic was only gaining momentum, it seemed that getting used to online formats was a temporary matter. You can get a little witty on zoom, practice your multi-chat skills, and learn how to make time for informal conversations with colleagues on social media.
The further into the forest, the stronger it feels that the online office is with us for a long time. Even those who are categorically against permanent remote work are dutifully ready to hide in the digital expanse while the statistics of the sick are rising. And it’s okay if you’ve seen your colleagues in person before. But since the beginning of the pandemic, many have managed to change jobs, and the opportunity to meet with associates has not appeared.
How to become the hero of the office inside a complex system of relationships, inside remote desktops, corporate messengers and other soulless screen entertainment?
Signs
Be careful with those you don’t even see. Everyone expresses themselves inside chats: pictures, profile descriptions, stickers used or any speech turns are the keys to unraveling what a person likes and what not. Remember these little markers and use them in your subsequent communication, for example, dilute the correspondence with a good joke or a link to a golden classic music video.
Offline
Even if you are separated by distances and time zones, this does not mean that you cannot be present in the life of another person. Pay attention to memorable dates, birthdays, or, conversely, sad news – you can always send flowers, please a separate unit with a sweet surprise, or organize a small event remotely.
Tet-a-tet
The office is a fertile ground for gossip: no written confirmation, only whispering in smoking rooms, after which nothing can be proven. Another thing is remote work: if you really want to discuss someone, then you need to go to a personal chat. Remember that everything written is easily forwarded, recorded and passed along the chain. Try to avoid the gossip that takes place in the impersonal space online.
Business hours
Be wise and a little cunning. Do not write on work matters at inappropriate hours, do not forget to say hello, thank you and say goodbye. Profile description can be decorated with the schedule of your working day. Your colleagues will accept these rules of the game and treat your time with the same respect.
Technical equipment
Camera, microphone, lighting and so on. As long as you’re sitting in a group conference sounding like you’re on the front lines of a war, you won’t be loved. In case of some complicated circumstances, it is better to warn that now you are not quite ready to turn on sound and video.
Mood
Don’t be overzealous with positivity in the early morning and show too much torment in the late evening. Do not put pressure on colleagues for the sick, they have already suffered for two long years online. It’s the same with emails: don’t rain down inappropriate punctuation and pictures on your chat colleagues and don’t be rude in email.
