Things that are relaxing and easy all the time, like watching Netflix, generally do not come with a salary. Still, most of us spend more time at work than anywhere else; enjoying it matters for your overall well being. “Would any of these relationships even exist if we’d worked together the way people have over the past 20 months—via Zoom, Slack, text, and email? Is true friendship even possible when nearly all of your connections are digital? Not every overture needs to come in the form of a calendar appointment.

Beck had a coworker who started a job during the pandemic, so he set up monthly Zoom meetings where he could connect with his new colleagues. This small action created a structure where friendships could thrive, she says. We found that remote workers often experienced virtuality as “a barrier” to forming friendships with their colleagues. To overcome this barrier, they had to establish what we termed cadence. Remote workers feel like they have cadence with a coworker when they understand who that person is and can predict how they will interact with them.

Remember that not everyone wants to be friends.

And I want you to notice something – none of what I shared addresses what you do, and that is on purpose. 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 how to make friends when you work from home 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. If you’re looking for work to help you create a social life—for example, if you’re moving to a new city to start work after college—pay attention to the social opportunities when choosing a job.

• If you would generally “run-into” someone at a particular event, set a reminder on your phone to try to schedule a call with them around that date and time, Cummings recommends.
• Managers can also create opportunities for employees to meet in-person and take full advantage of these opportunities.
• (Jane, you’re the next target.) But what are the pros of playing it too cool?
• Many subreddit communities (Reddit’s term for groups) cater to remote workers.

Making friends as an adult can already be a bit tricky, and we often rely on an office for much of that post-school interaction. As increasing numbers of us work virtually (or for ourselves!), there are more people than you might expect hoping to make new friends outside of a workplace. If you’ve already made one or two friends, congratulations! Don’t stop there – here’s where you can really connect with some new faces by planning out some office-adjacent fun.

Make an Effort on Social Media

We often think likable people are funny or smart or charismatic, but the secret to being likable is actually to like people. According to the theory of inferred attraction, people like people who they think like them.

• One of the major benefits of remote work is having the time to squeeze in exercise and healthier eating habits since you won’t be stuck in a daily commute.
• You can see all your upcoming events in one place, chat with friends in the app, and even slide into their DMs to make meetings much more manageable.
• You shouldn’t go to party hostels either since the temptation of hanging out and partying with your new friends every day might be too big.
• Imagine if you couldn’t drop by a co-worker’s desk during your very first job, or go out for drinks after work with your colleagues.