Governments, companies, medical professionals, and other experts are directing us to \u2018social distance\u2019 ourselves to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as you may have heard by now, we\u2019ve got the vocabulary wrong.\u00a0We need to \u2018physically distance\u2019 ourselves.<\/p>\n
Now more than ever, we NEED social connection, intimacy, communities, and togetherness.\u00a0Virtually everyone who is sheltered at home is feeling more disconnected and less social.<\/p>\n
And there is no way to completely reverse that.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s amazing how far we can go to create connections remotely.<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 Formalize casual contact.<\/strong>\u00a0Use your multiple forms of mobile chat like you have never used them before. \u2018Bumping into\u2019 a family member, friend, or co-worker via WhatsApp, WeChat, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, or all the other channels has never been so easy. Make a point of flipping through your contact lists to create informal contacts. This will open up the \u2018hallway conversations\u2019 that can unlock news you need to know and connections you need to sustain.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 Meet a little more with your teams<\/strong>. They\u2019re feeling as disconnected as you are, so create more forums to connect and chat. If you had a staff meeting, add another meeting on another topic, or two, every week. They\u2019ll do the same with their teams. Look for excuses to meet briefly and informally instead of what you might have done before.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Use Video<\/strong>.\u00a0It\u2019s remarkable how much video creates the feeling of closeness, intimacy, \u2018social life.\u2019 Audio just doesn\u2019t compare. By phone, by tablet, by PC or Mac, by whatever form, but definitely move to video as much as possible. Laugh about the appearance of special guest stars like your kids, pets, and spouses. It\u2019s bring your child or bring your dog to work\u00a0 EVERY day now.<\/p>\n If you have other ideas for how to \u2018not\u2019 socially distance and actually become socially present while \u2018physically distancing,\u2019 please let me and others know in the comments below. We\u2019re all in this together (apart).<\/p>\n \u2013 Written by Bracken Darrell, CEO, Logitech<\/p>\n