Work is the place that most Americans spend the largest portion of their waking hours, so finding a way to work with the social tapestry of your workplace is often essential to developing a healthy social life. On top of that, appearing friendlier at work helps you look approachable and makes it easier for people to come to you when they need your help on a project. No matter how hard you work on a personal virtual background with logo for your conference calls, if you really want to distinguish yourself you will figure out how to be everyone’s go-to for problem solving and socializing equally.
Learn and Use Everyone’s Name
Learning names can be difficult, but there is no better way to make sure everyone feels like you are putting in the effort to know them. It’s hard to appear approachable or friendly if you can’t even remember who you are talking to, but learning new names can be very difficult for some people. Use tools like immersive view Zoom backgrounds to eliminate distractions so you can focus on each person speaking while you navigate this step.
Spend Break Time in the Break Room
If you work onsite, using shared spaces can be a great way to build up your familiarity with people and get them used to seeing you as someone beyond your job. It provides you with a lot of low-stakes chance interactions and removes the possibility that you could appear to be isolated on purpose.
If you work remotely, you probably have opportunities like social networking tools or casual talk forums within the company’s virtual spaces. These areas can function like virtual break rooms, allowing you to build a similar type of rapport with your coworkers even if you never come into the office.
Ask Your Coworker To Go for a Walk
Small casual interactions in the break room are great for establishing your presence, but to get to know people you need to give them a chance to tell you about themselves. A short walk to get some exercise over a coffee break or lunch can provide you with the space to have those talks, and setting yourself up as a person who enjoys them will make it easier for people to come to you on their own, too.
For online workers, learn to add virtual background in Teams that indicates whether you are calling for a social matter or something work related. That way people learn when you’re just there to socialize and begin to see the pattern as you work to make friends.
Bring In Coffee or Lunch for the Crew
This one is easy, because who doesn’t love food? If you feed your coworkers, they will remember it, and they’ll usually wind up buying into the idea themselves if it becomes a repeat occurrence. That can help build an office culture of sharing that lets you get to know what people like to eat and where they like to order from, too.
Opt Into After Work Gatherings
This last way of making yourself friendlier to coworkers can be tough if you have a busy personal life, but in some workplaces it is also the only way to get ahead. Most of the time, there are extracurricular options that range from casual get togethers for drinks to organized intramural sports teams or even company-wide leagues. Make use of that time to see people and to show you want to spend time with them outside of work.
