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Feeling Left Out as a Remote Worker? What to Do about It.

Nowadays, due to the expansion of remote work, most companies have team members who have never met each other in person. In these cases, the professional relationship is mediated by technology.

Because of the physical barrier, often it can be tough for a remote worker to build rapport with teammates.

As it turns out, working from home can make some workers feel left out. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review.

The majority of the respondents said they felt like their colleagues are not treating them equally as those who work in the office.

Unfortunately, this type of behavior can negatively impact a team’s performance, which is why these sorts of challenges need to be addressed as soon as possible.

If you’re feeling left out as a remote worker, there are a few things you can do to ensure you’ll be involved in key activities and decisions.


 

Hold Video Meetings

 
woman doing a video meeting
 

Many people who work remotely don’t live in the same city, state or even country as their employer. Therefore, it would be impossible to have regular, in-person meetings with everyone.

Despite this impediment, you can still have meetings and see your coworkers thanks to video conferencing.

It’s much harder to be ignored as a remote worker when people can actually see you during a meeting as opposed to only hearing you.


 

Start a Conversation

Some conversations need to be kept private, but there are also topics that need to be discussed among team members.

In these cases, don’t hesitate to use the company’s communication channels to express a concern, an idea or to simply ask a question.

By doing this, other remote workers will be able to jump into the conversation and so everyone will benefit from the exchange of knowledge and opinions.


 

Be Honest about Your Feelings

When you’re upset, whether it’s something a coworker did or didn’t do, such as including you in a certain project, it’s important to address the situation right away.

You can try bringing it up with the person who left you out or discuss with a manager.

Sometimes, it can be good to have a manager handle this type of situation and talk with the other person involved as well.


 

Make the Extra Effort

 
co-workers in break room getting to know each other
 

In some cases, it pays to make the extra effort and get to know your coworkers a little bit better and even talk to them more about the projects they’re working on.

You can discuss with them about the skills that you can bring to the table and how that would benefit that specific project.

To further stand out, you can also overdeliver on an assignment so colleagues will know that you take your work seriously.


 

Remote jobs come with tremendous advantages that shouldn’t be overshadowed by something that can be fixed.

The key is to make sure that you contribute to the inclusive nature of the company you work for and that you apply these small, yet important, tips.
If you’re looking for a new job or would like to see the opportunities we have available at the moment, click here to see the listings.

No Remote Worker Should Feel Left Out.