3 ways to help remote teams feel more socially connected

BUSINESS EDITORIAL

Who doesn’t love working remotely?

All that freedom and flexibility… The delicious lack of traffic jams and soggy packed lunches…

It’s no surprise that globally, 70% of people work remotely at least once a week—a trend that is exploding as technology continues to unshackle us from our desks. But there’s a flipside to all this rose-tinted talk: working remotely sure does get lonely.

Here are three tips to encourage more social connection among your team members:

1) Teams that playlist together, stay together

When you miss the buzz of an office, having a team playlist can offer a valuable communal experience. All you need is a company Spotify list. Everyone can add their songs, then kick back to the sound of each other’s weird and wonderful music tastes.

2) Get creative with your icebreakers

Instead of opening your weekly teleconference calls with conversation killers like “How was your weekend?”, ask questions like “What’s your guilty Netflix pleasure?”. Funny or surprising questions bypass awkward small talk and amplify that all-important human connection.

3) Buddy up

Assigning mentors, or pairing people up to video chat once a week, are great ways to nurture relationships, rather than leaving connections to form by chance. If you already have a mentor scheme, don’t just leave it for new starters—make it a forever “thing.” People will maintain stronger bonds and feel less isolated.

Whatever you decide to try, building social connection remotely takes effort. But if you’re intentional, it’s effort well spent.

PRINT 101

SADDLE STITCHING

There are a lot of different types of binding: saddle stitched, spiral, wire-o, Italian stitched, perfect bound, smith sween, case bound, etc.

Do you know how saddle stitching is done? At the beginning of the binding process, all the printed sheets are stacked and folded together. Then, they are bound with staples from the outside, on the fold. Finally, the three sides without staples are trimmed evenly.

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