Research highlights impact of disconnection among remote workers

The research examined social talk practices among remote colleagues and outlined the best ways to facilitate connectedness

With many employees now beginning to embrace hybrid working, insights from the study can be used to inform future work to ensure employee wellbeing. File picture: Violeta Stoimenova/iStock

Remote working has left some employees feeling less engaged and detached from their team, according to new research that sheds light on the importance of connection in hybrid working.

After two years of remote working, many industries' approaches have changed as they adapted to the new way of doing things.

As more companies begin to move towards the hybrid model, new research has focused on how employee wellbeing is being addressed.

The research from the SFI ADAPT Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology and the SFI Centre for Research Training in Digitally-Enhanced Reality (D-REAL) has proposed recommendations to help develop a more connected online workplace.

It examined social talk practices among remote colleagues and outlined the best ways to develop a more social environment for out-of-office employees.

According to the study, while video conferencing tools have transformed how colleagues do collegiality, social interactions are not as instinctive online and remote working and the lack of in-person events has left some workers feeling detached from their team.

While it is widely accepted that better communication leads to better working relationships, researchers have said that overcoming the challenges of co-worker communication could help with both the wellbeing of employees and workplace satisfaction.

Maintaining collegial ties

Speaking on the research, Dr Benjamin Cowan from the ADAPT Centre at UCD said it was an important first step in understanding how colleagues maintain collegial ties.

“Communication over video conferencing channels is more formal than in-person interactions. Research highlights that video conferencing tends to lead to speakers interrupting each other less, while also leading to a reduction in side conversations,” he said.

As the post-pandemic workplace will likely see a more hybrid approach and remote teams, researchers noted the importance of ensuring interactions are not lost, and motivation is maintained.

Lead author and researcher at D-REAL Anna Bleakley emphasised the importance of following in-person trends and making time to chat at the start and end of more formal meetings. This can be achieved in the form of a breakout session or in the virtual meeting room itself.

Due to the online nature of video conferencing, people can socially engage with others outside of their immediate team, which should be supported, she said.

Managers should support this by creating shared social opportunities or activities for individuals to engage with each other right across an organisation."

Group size also matters and can affect levels of social talk and the conversational experience.

“With large numbers of people on Zoom, it is harder to support the natural side-conversations we see in large in-person group chats as well as becoming much more difficult for people to find common ground on which to contribute to a conversation.”

With many beginning to embrace hybrid working, it is hoped insights from the study can be used to inform future work to ensure employee wellbeing, social connectedness and motivation are considered.