An estimated 99,117 hours of our lives are spent at work… It’s important that we have a working environment in which we can grow, develop, and support each other. By empathizing with each other, we can cultivate a more caring and supportive atmosphere at work. How can we support your colleagues when working from home?

• Make sure you check in with your team members regularly. Working from home can be quite isolating and by having regular catchups on work and even personal life you can help maintain a strong team bond.
• Decide on establishing new ways of working together. Working remotely requires you to consider how you will deliver work as a team, therefore always support each other’s ideas; how you will communicate, what working platforms will be used, and how you support each other through challenges? Some of it might be trial & error, but it is also important to think about how you will reflect on what’s working and what isn’t.
• Provide recognition. Step up and be that colleague who always applauds and recognizes the hard work of your team members. It might not mean much to you but can mean the world to your colleague. Short comments through the work chat or through e-mail can make a huge impact when it comes to helping others in your office feel valued and appreciated.
• Maintain a positive work/life balance. Encourage your colleagues to set up a reminder in their diary for when you plan to finish a task/work. Always make sure you allocate enough time to take your lunch break and disconnect from all the tech during break time. If you can, try to get some fresh air and go for a short walk. It is important you look after your own well-being so you can also be there to support your team.
• Encourage all to take advantage of technology. Use collaborative working platforms to connect with your colleagues and work together. Try and mix up the platforms and have a variety, so that you are not always typing and looking at the same screen format. Find new ways of using platforms and experiment to see which ones are the team’s favourites.

Keeping in contact and supporting your colleagues can be beneficial to the work environment. By having a positive relationships at work, you can boost confidence, improve communication by being an approachable co-worker, help to create a sense of community and team spirit that could get lost over time when people are focusing solely on their own respective workloads.