Blog

Staying Connected

By Melissa Richards, Vice President for Communications and Marketing

February 10, 2021

Many faculty and staff members are back on campus, while others continue to work remotely. We have new members of our community who some have only met over Zoom. Community-building is more difficult, and we no longer have those meaningful, spontaneous interactions that bond us. 

How can we re-create some sense of togetherness in a hybrid environment? I turned to some of my friends in the corporate world who were working remotely for many years before COVID-19. Here are some of their ideas, along with some of my own:

• Create virtual water coolers – Schedule regular, short check-ins (15-minutes) on Zoom for small groups to connect without an agenda.
• Host a group activity – Schedule time occasionally for a team activity such as a documentary viewing party, book discussion, craft, or group exercise that will accommodate both in-person (socially distanced, of course) and virtual participation.
• Attend virtual campus events – There are still plenty of events happening around campus, just virtually instead of in person. Join us!
• Show your face – Even if you hate being on camera, turn your camera on at least sometimes and share a smile.
• Chat about it – If you’re all Zoomed out, use Google Chat to trade messages with colleagues.
• Just pick up the phone – Sometimes an old-fashioned telephone call is refreshing.
• Start a new tradition – Last March the Marketing and Communications Office started a weekly tradition of passing on a virtual “thank you” rock to a fellow team member. The recipient of the rock passes it on to someone else the following week.
• Take turns in Zoom meetings – Find ways, both formal and informal, to give a variety of meeting attendees the microphone. It could be as simple as asking a different person each week to share something interesting that they read and explain why it is relevant to our work.
• Stay in touch with College happenings – Start your morning by reading new stories on the Hamilton news page or watching videos on Hamilton’s YouTube channel.
• Take a hike – And I mean it in the literal sense. Not everyone has access to a computer throughout the day, and those who do need to rest their eyes and move their legs. The Outing Club has lots of ideas for small groups to connect outdoors while maintaining our health and safety rules.