Remote work has made developing relationships with colleagues harder – here’s what workers and bosses need now

(Mark Clark, American University Kogod School of Business and Meredith Persily, American University) Having good relationships with colleagues is key to building a rewarding and effective work experience. Employees who are engaged with their co-workers, such as reporting “a best friend at work” in Gallup’s well-regarded survey, are more likely to be productive, to stay with their organization and to contribute to the organization’s performance.

But the surge in pandemic-induced remote work is changing these relationships and has made it more challenging to establish connections in the first place. To succeed, both employees and leaders must understand what each group is seeking to achieve and how they can benefit from the changing workplace.

How should leaders relate to, and support, their colleagues and subordinates? How can leaders discern what employees want out of the workplace and help them to get it? What can employees do to demonstrate their value while having fewer interactions with their co-workers and supervisors? What are the hallmarks of an organizational environment where employees can flourish?

As part of our ongoing research on organizations and work culture, we regularly interview leaders and employees, as first recounted in our book “Six Paths to Leadership.” What’s emerged are a few basic guidelines for a world where remote work is increasingly the norm and as workforce demographics and technologies shift.

Our preliminary analysis of their input has yielded several important themes:

Frayed social networks

Perhaps the most pressing issue for organizations emerging from the height of pandemic lockdowns is whether employees will return to a fully in-person workplace or continue in some variation of the remote mode of recent years. Calls for returns to the office are often framed by supporters as a need to manage the person-to-person interactions that spur innovation and a collaborative culture, particularly for new hires who need to learn the ropes, as well as a way to monitor productivity.

Others suggest that simply returning to in-person business over-relies on past models of an effective workplace, when it is clear that workforce practices must evolve for organizations to be successful. Our research suggests that for both leader and workers, it may be useful to address the challenges of building trust, respect and engagement in a more dispersed workplace.

Leaders we’ve interviewed tell us they want to believe that employees are giving their best effort and are mindful of the organizational mission. Employees want to feel valued, trusted and supported in their work and career paths, regardless of how much time they spend in an on-site company office.

Both sides acknowledge that with more hybrid work, there is less opportunity to build the well-rounded relationships that come from frequent, less structured personal interactions. This gives organizations less information to make “people” decisions and judgments, such as who deserves promotions, who could benefit from more support and who should be first to go in the case of layoffs or restructuring.

Creating a culture of collaboration

Good planning and extra effort is required for leaders and colleagues to seek out and understand the perspectives of others. While many companies report adopting project management software and other monitoring technology to manage hybrid work, our interviewees remind us that these platforms are better at tracking individual task completion than more holistic, complex and continuing assignments that require collaboration. To remedy this, leaders should not only engage employees in their individual work but also identify how employees can help one another.

For instance, in a related study, one of us found that work teams whose members know one another, communicate well and share responsibilities improve their ability to complete work on time and with fewer errors. Thus, it is important to help employees bring together their diverse perspectives and create motivating social support systems in the workplace.

A related concern is how new hires who are not familiar with the work culture of the organization before pandemic-related changes can learn the expectations of their workplace when placed in hybrid work arrangements.

Empathy and building relationships

Our research suggests that intentionality – doing your work with purpose and mindful awareness – can drive meaningful productivity, spurring both leaders and their employees to go beyond a simple “checkbox” approach to instead expend energy where it furthers the organizational purpose.

For example, leaders can identify paths for onboarding new hires – what employees should learn, which experiences they should prioritize, who they should connect with, how they should set goals. These types of steps can allow new hires to orient themselves to some degree as well, seeking out socializing experiences to gain knowledge, support and personal connections.

Employees in remote work situations, for their part, must increasingly own their career path and take responsibility for their own professional development. This includes acquainting themselves with the resources of the organization, while also taking responsibility for their own future.

Our discussions with leaders and employees also revealed that even among those who weathered the changes of the last few years, not everyone is having the same experience. People working for the same organization may be facing starkly different demands of their health and home conditions, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic and remote work. Leaders should be attuned to the stressors endured by their workforce, which requires good planning and extra efforts to understand the paths others are walking. Employees can help themselves, as well as their work performance, by building work-life boundaries that allow them the space needed to thrive in both arenas.

Critically, our research suggests that leaders and peers must add empathy to their set of tools. To truly empathize requires deeper understanding of others and building collegial relationships. That requires focus and time to better appreciate co-worker backgrounds and perspectives, and understanding how they deliver and gain value in their work.

The importance of people at work

As people’s work relationships grow more remote and are increasingly mediated by technology, we have found that organizations must attend to the person within the workplace. This may mean modifying work hours, increasing investment in employee training, boosting autonomy and making other adjustments designed to help employees bring their best selves to the workplace, while also granting a life outside of the company walls.

There are many factors that can influence the optimal set of practices for a given company – its industry, national and organizational cultures, diversity of employees and the expectations of each generation entering the workforce. Ultimately, our research shows that the path for organizations to succeed is cleared by getting to know and then supporting the people who make success possible.

Mark Clark, Associate Professor of Management, American University Kogod School of Business and Meredith Persily, Adjunct Professorial Lecturer, American University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Miami y el Metro Express: un sistema que redefine movilidad, política pública y tejido social en el sur de Florida

(Por Taylor) El Metro Express, el primer sistema de autobuses 100% eléctricos de Estados Unidos que opera en el corredor exclusivo US-1 entre Dadeland South y Florida City. La tecnología y la obra que genera una transformación en la gobernanza, la economía local, la conectividad entre zonas de crecimiento y la experiencia de comunidades diversas, incluido el ecosistema argentino-venezolano-brasileño-miamense.

Tiempo de lectura: 3 minutos 

María Corina Machado, Nobel de la Paz 2025: cuando la resistencia se convierte en una acción global (toda anglolatina lo celebra)

(Redacción del equipo IN de Miami con Mary Molina y M. Maurizio) El Nobel de la Paz 2025 otorgado a María Corina Machado —líder opositora venezolana que lleva meses viviendo en la clandestinidad— es una de esas sentencias geopolíticas que redefinen equilibrios de poder, narrativas globales y, sobre todo, la legitimidad de quienes ostentan el monopolio de la violencia estatal.

Tiempo de lectura de alto valor estratégico: 3 minutos 

Miami se consagra como el nuevo templo del fútbol anglolatino: Argentina vs Venezuela, mucho más que un amistoso

(Por Equipo InfoNegocios Miami con Ortega) Copa América, Mundial de Clubes, Mundial 2026…hoy amistoso Argentina - Venezuela (dos mega colectividades en USA). Miami es también la capital del fútbol anglolatino. El Hard Rock Stadium de Miami Gardens no será simplemente el escenario de un partido de fútbol este viernes 10 de octubre. Será el epicentro de una convergencia cultural, deportiva y económica que redefine el concepto mismo de lo que significa ser global en el siglo XXI. 

Tiempo de lectura de alto valor: 3 minutos 

Amancio Ortega conquista Brickell: la apuesta de US$ 274.4 millones que reescribe el poder inmobiliario y de retail en Miami

(Por Maurizio y Tylenol con Maximiliano Mauvecin) En una operación que sacude los cimientos del mercado inmobiliario corporativo del sur de Florida, Amancio Ortega —el arquitecto silencioso del imperio Inditex y uno de los cinco hombres más ricos del planeta— acaba de consumar la adquisición más significativa de oficinas premium en Miami durante 2025

(Tiempo de lectura de alto valor estratégico: 3 minutos)

Miami reimagina la interconexión sustentable: el Metro Express y la revolución silenciosa tan demandada

(Por Taylor) Imaginen por un instante el Miami de 1984. La US-1 era ya una herida abierta de congestión, promesas políticas incumplidas y una expansión urbana que devoraba manglares y tiempo de vida. Cuatro décadas después, ese mismo corredor se convierte en el escenario de una revolución silenciosa pero profundamente disruptiva: el primer sistema de autobuses rápidos 100% eléctricos de Estados Unidos. 

Tiempo de lectura: 3 minutos 

2026: año de la potenciación de dos grandes formas de competir (en toda industria y servicios)

(Una cocreación Ristretter- Infonegocios Miami, por Marcelo Maurizio, junto a Maqueda-Otero) Existe una bifurcación estratégica fundamental en el capitalismo contemporáneo que determina el destino de cualquier organización comercial. Si tu modelo operativo se fundamenta en la manufactura masiva —típico de conglomerados asiáticos enfocados en eficiencia productiva extrema—, tu arquitectura empresarial gravitará inexorablemente hacia la optimización de costos marginales, velocidad de rotación de inventario y distribución de alto volumen. Pero… te contamos.

(Tiempo de lectura de alto valor estratégico: 3 minutos)

Miami: el laboratorio perfecto para la próxima fase de expansión de Nude Project (parte II)

(Por Maurizio y Maqueda) La decisión de Nude Project de abrir tienda en Miami no es accidental; es estratégicamente brillante. El sur de Florida se ha consolidado en la última década como la capital indiscutible del retail de lujo y el marketing experiencial en el hemisferio occidental, superando incluso a metrópolis tradicionales como Nueva York o Los Ángeles en términos de dinamismo comercial y capacidad de adopción de tendencias.

(Tiempo de lectura de alto valor estratégico: 3 minutos)