Let’s face it: Remote work is really hard.

Even for the people who love it – who thrive being able to work from anywhere – working alone on your computer can be isolating.  

Zoom meetings and constant Slack updates have made work more distant and impersonal for so many teams, but because everyone was together in the office before does not mean the company culture is going to snap back to the way it was. (And you may even see that your company culture was not as close-knit as you thought it was before you left the office.)

So now, it’s time to start rebuilding.

Work is about so much more than the actual tasks we do to get the job done. The average person spends more time at work than any other activity, so try as hard as we’d like to compartmentalize, your workspace, and the people in it, are a major part of your life.

This means a major part of your life is about working in a team, collaborating ideas, communicating on what needs to get done and trusting that everyone around you is doing their part. That doesn’t come from strictly staying on task.

When you connect with a team on a personal level – when you all the mishaps with your project manager’s kid’s science project or look at pictures of your colleague’s new puppy (and the shoes the puppy then destroyed) – you create a relationship that makes it easier to communicate when it does come down to business. Studies have shown that people who have positive interactions in the workplace are happier by the end of the day, are more like to help each other with advice, feedback and guidance on both work and non-work related matters and have a higher overall motivation for their job.

But how do we foster better, more personal connections in the workplace? Well, we can:

Create a shared experience

It’s one thing to get to know about someone else’s life, but to really form a connection with someone, going through something together is the key. And since you’re in a workplace that you want people to thrive in, you want those experience to be positive.

Group activities like outings, wellness programs and classes create an easy way for coworkers to get together and get to know each other using a shared experience. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be physically in the same space – offering remote options can create that same sort of bond. As long as they know there is someone staring at the same screen as them, that can mean more than you’d expect.

Make your company values clear – and stick to them

When companies start up, there are so many ideals about what time of workplace you’d like this to be, and those easily fall by the wayside as things get busier and life takes over. Take a moment to really consider the values your company holds.

Do you want employees to be happy, motivated, encouraged and healthy? Then make sure there are work-sanctioned opportunities for them to reach those goals. So instead of encouraging employees to go out and get a gym membership, provide the option to take a yoga class in your office. That shows that you aren’t just talk – you’re actively looking for ways to live up to your values and take care of your employees.

Keep everyone engaged.

Want people to get to know each other? Create an environment that brings out the best in everyone.

People thrive in places where they feel valued, where they feel they are innovating and being heard. In other words, increasing engagement is an easy way to increase connection. The more people feel like they’re contributing positively to a community, the more likely they are to become a more active part in it. That’s going to make them happier in their work.