Starting a new remote job? Bridge the gap between remote work and creating relationships
With the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic, the job market is being flooded with employee turnover. Many are being forced to start new jobs remotely or through social distancing measures, making it difficult to learn on the job about company culture. These circumstances call for unique measures.
Face to face interactions are what create relationships at an organization. Remote work has created a gap where new employees are unable to have face to face conversations, but luckily technology comes to our rescue! Video conference your teammates whenever possible! By video conferencing, you allow yourself to be seen as a real person behind the screen. Video Chat allows you to connect with your colleagues and create a personal touch that makes the process of acclimating into a new organization easier.
As a new employee, it is important to understand the full layout of the organization beyond the reach of your own team. Create meet and greet calls that allow you to get to know the different people in the company which can be useful to understand the structure of your company’s culture. As a brand new employee there is no such thing as overnetworking, so take advantage of this opportunity to get to know the organization. Make sure to reach out to team members to find out if there are any company wide networking opportunities such as happy hour that may make this process easier!
To succeed at a new organization, it is important to create a “supermentor.” This “supermentor” is a structure of people that will aid you to maximize your potential as an employee-- even after you have acclimated into the company. Find mentors who will help you navigate through company culture, especially those who are well connected and situated with the people in the organization as well as mentors who can help you with getting things done a well as with any questions about “how to’s.” Normally, these relationships would be built over time, but with remote work it is important to go out of your way to schedule time and seek these relationships.
One of the easiest ways to build relationships is to offer help. In the office, you might offer to grab someone a cup of coffee on your way back from the break room, but unfortunately due to the circumstances of remote work those kinds of relationships may be lost-- although, it does not have to be. You can build these relationships by offering support on things such as creating a zoom background or helping a colleague with a small task. On the other hand, you can also ask for help! People love to offer their assistance especially when someone is new and they are curious to get to know you, use it to your advantage! Be inquisitive and learn as much as possible!
Finally, create a diary or schedule to note down how meetings went and tasks that were accomplished. By creating notes of what was done, you can have records of any issues that may need to be resolved that normally would have been a simple chat in the office. During the next meeting you may have with supervisors or colleagues, it will be easy to resolve any recorded issues. Creating a schedule also allows you to have a record of what issues have occurred in the past and what issues may arise in the future. By having these records, it gives you ideas as to how you may have solved similar issues in the past and how to go about them in the future. Most importantly, if your company asks for feedback through the form of employee surveys, you will have a record as to what has and has not been working for you and will be able to give your employer tangible feedback that they can use to improve the workplace!
Remote working is a difficult transition to make, but by following these tips we are confident that you can make a smooth transition into a new organization!