How to retain the benefits of smart working without depressing relationships in the company

Here too, how many times have we read it?

But what kind of people are we training? What will they learn? How will they get used to managing relationships with others? How will they learn? Will they be able to grasp the infinite and marvellous nuances of physical proximity with colleagues, who contribute to building, day after day, the 'experience' of daily confrontation in meetings, at the coffee machine, at lunch, hearing and seeing how colleagues face and solve (or not) problems, seeing how they argue and how they apologise (or not), smelling their perfumes, resting their hand on the shoulder of those who share personal problems?

This is how relationships develop. This is how mutual trust is engendered. Otherwise, we have so many people who only talk to each other in 30' video conference slots, looking at each other in half-length, virtual or 'blurred' backgrounds.

We are actually training them to live behind a screen. People who have 5 senses, but use only 2 of them to create professional relationships: sight and hearing. Do smell, touch, taste contribute, or not, to enhancing interpersonal skills? Can they help us to improve, to create relationships, to better understand whether to trust colleagues? Let us keep this in mind when we build/manage remote teams (even if not 100%). For the good of the people, for the good of the company and the customers.

Technology is caressing us with two seductive promises: the remote working and super competent virtual assistants.

Today I am writing about remote work.

I imagined myself at home, sitting at my desk with no one around.

Every now and then I have an update call with real colleagues, where everyone gives their progress on their piece of the business, and when the coffee break comes, I can even indulge in making my own mocha and enjoying it while looking at the plants in the garden.

In silence. Alone.

In many ways, the whole thing may even look good, but if I imagine myself in this routine for twenty, thirty, sixty days, I can't help seeing myself as Jack Nicholson in front of his typewriter in The Shining.

And on some days, I actually look like him.

Although I remain productive and formally 'connected' to everything else, my equilibrium begins to falter and the quality of work and my own thinking gradually declines.

It is not the same as looking into the eyes of colleagues, smelling their perfume, patting them on the back (or receiving one), sharing a good coffee while talking about work, discussing interesting points without Microsoft Teams triggering the next meeting alert.

It is not the same thing because I know the benefit of proximity. But if, as a leader, I train a person to 'live' professionally remotely, am I doing him/her good or not?

There are many studies but one from the Politecnico di Milano points out, among many positive aspects and some critical ones, that there is "a perception of a sense of isolation towards the organisation".

It is this aspect, much underestimated, that worries me.

If it happens to me, who has experience and roots deep in the past that echo back to remind me how good it feels to be physically at the side of colleagues, how can young neo-graduates* who train 'only' two senses grow up?

Losing the human spark of non-formalised interaction means automating work and renouncing the creative mass that goes by the name of relational capital, which represents the identity asset of every organisation, which lives of contact, proximity, continuous confrontation, empathy, scents. Which lives of the 5 senses, not just 2.

The lack of social interaction typical of the office can certainly lead to a sense of isolation and loneliness detrimental to the individual and to productivity. At the same time, virtual communication may not be as effective and spontaneous as face-to-face communication, leading to the proliferation of misunderstandings that, as they fester, may evolve into disagreements.

Am I saying that smartworking is a mistake? Far from it. Its introduction has revealed benefits that it is now impossible to turn our backs on, in terms of work/life balance, cost reduction for the individual and the company, attractiveness for organisations, and reduced pollution.

There are companies that are eliminating it, demanding that people physically return to work.

In order to keep these valuable advances in place, we must do as much as possible to make up for what remote work struggles to provide. As always, balance is needed.

Here are some tools that I find interesting for nurturing relational capital within organisations that make extensive use of smartworking:

- Internal social networking platforms, where employees can share interests, skills, personal and professional projects, are proving to be an effective virtual space of connection between colleagues, even if physically distant, and can serve as a place for inspiration and collaboration.

- Organising engaging and fun virtual team-building activities, such as online games, puzzle-solving challenges or storytelling sessions, helps to strengthen bonds between team members and stimulate creativity even at a distance.

- Implement virtual mentoring programmes, where experienced employees and newcomers can interact through online coaching sessions. This practice not only fosters skills development, but also helps create a sense of community and sharing.

- Organise random virtual coffee break sessions, where employees are randomly matched and invited to share personal experiences, interests, or simply to chat. This stimulates informal interaction and allows people to get to know each other better even in a smartworking context.

- Organise virtual theme days, where employees can participate in workshops, seminars and presentations on topics of interest to them. This stimulates continuous learning, networking and knowledge sharing.

Incorporating these solutions into smartworking environments can help enhance relational capital and keep interpersonal relationships alive, creating a balance between technological efficiency and the cultivation of human connections.

Merry networking to all.

*Networking Trainer & Community Builder