As an aftermath of the pandemic, most companies are heading towards a hybrid workplace where most employees will rotate in and out of the office. A recent PwC survey revealed, “While less than one in five executives say they want to return to the office as it was pre-pandemic, 87% of employees say the office is important for their top-rated needs – collaborating with team members and building relationships.”

David Johnson, a principal analyst at Forrester, said, “One of the things that’s interesting about working remotely is that a lot of those social cues and experiences are vastly different; they have to almost be manufactured.”

Indeed, casual social interactions have taken a backseat during the pandemic, with remote employees desperately in need of some team bonding. And, why is that? There is no scope for “going on coffee breaks” or “discussing the latest Netflix show at the water cooler” in the digital workplace.”

Lee Gordon, VP of Global Communications and Public Relations at Brunswick Corporation, once said, “One of the many things I miss about being in the office is accidentally running into people at the coffee machine. Those chance encounters provide tremendous insight into what my colleagues were working on or what their kids did over the weekend.”

Informal conversations with colleagues also allow ideas to cross-pollinate, i.e., members of different teams can talk about their current projects, brainstorm ideas, and come up with new ways of doing work. In fact, 80% of the successful ideas implemented by teams are born out of informal conversations.

The question that arises then is: “Is it possible to recreate an informal environment that stimulates discussion and allows employees to converse on both work-related and personal topics in the digital setup?”

Let’s find out how.