All Posts by Shannon Voyles

As a professional with more than 10 years working in online higher education, I fully understand the struggles that remote or virtual employees face. One of those challenges is isolation. Working remotely, it can be easy to feel isolated and to actually become isolated from one’s peers and managers. Along with that isolation can come feelings of inadequacy, of ‘missing out’, and, eventually, not knowing when and to whom to reach out when needed.

All of these can compound and lead to a reduction in productivity, job satisfaction, and ultimately, the company’s bottom line. How are you isolated from your coworkers? If you are a manager, are those you lead isolated? Has that isolation started in impact the department yet?

Regardless of the answers to those questions, it isn’t too late to remedy the problem. But first, what is the problem? Are employees getting the same information at the same time? Does the department have an open line of communication from the top down? Do the remote employees know each other and have a way to share ideas and communicate? If the answer to any of those is “no”, that’s a place to start.

In Group Coaching and Mentoring: A Framework for Organizational Change, the highlighted department was suffering from everything mentioned thus far, and more. In a systematic approach that involved the entire department, they slowly shifted their culture from one of isolation to one of teamwork, high engagement, and high job satisfaction, among other things.

As you think about your current work environment, how can you become more engaged and less isolated? How can you lead your peers or employees out of isolation and into a community of practice?