This has been one of the biggest surprises for me after 18 months working remotely. I definitely took for granted how easy it is to have social interaction when working together in the same office, and the impact that has on team building, collaboration, and creativity/brainstorming.

I’ve found myself not only having to be disciplined in getting my work done but also in building relationships with team members. Going out of the way to use slack, hangouts, etc to create those “coffee break” moments has helped create a much more friendly/open team environment.

I’ve also found that leveraging social media like Twitter/Medium/Slack can help with the feeling of isolation and help supplement the sharing of thoughts/ideas that happens more naturally in a traditional office environment.