Roughly a year and a half ago, before the novel coronavirus crossed borders from the city of Wuhan in China, getting to work on time was a thing. Some dreaded it too. And, before we started off our day, small talk was a daily workplace ritual for most of us. We exchanged hellos and swapped stories of previous evenings with colleagues in lifts, cafeterias, or while just our computers would boot. Though these encounters probably lasted only minutes, at the time we didn’t really understand its importance. But, now sociologists have uncovered the impact of the lack of small talk while we work from home.  

Undoubtedly, small talk plays a crucial role in making us feel emotionally connected at work however, it is important to us in other ways too. For example, frequent small talks with colleagues put us at ease and infuses positivity. The tidbits we learn about our colleagues build rapport and deepens trust. Sociologists suggest that chance encounters and spontaneous conversations with our co-workers can spark collaboration, improving our creativity, innovation, and performance. However, there is a small percentage of people who are skeptical of small talk. It is because small talk makes them anxious, they attribute it to gossip. Some even arrive at meetings exactly at the start time to avoid having to chitchat. This makes small talk a bit of a social paradox and raises the question: How exactly is small talk important? Your co-workers don’t necessarily need to know every detail of your life, but it certainly helps everyone feel like a real person. A real person. This is why, most of us, especially those who stay alone are mourning the loss of small talk. So, what we found and what we could do?

A social survey conducted by the Academy of Management in NY revealed that small talk was both uplifting and distracting in an unbalanced proportion. On days workers made more small talk than usual, they experienced more positive emotions and were less burned out. They were also more willing to go out of their way to help their colleagues. At the same time, they felt less focused on and less engaged in their work tasks, which limited their ability to assist others. However, it found that one group — people who were adept at reading others and adjusting their conversations in response — were less likely to report feeling disrupted by small talk. It also saw that conversations didn’t have to be intimate or lengthy to deliver benefits. The positives of small talk outweighed the negatives and that those negatives could be easily managed.

As organizations consider their optimal post-pandemic remote-work strategy, they’ll need practices to integrate small talk into their work ecosystems. The good news is that the virtual landscape presents a surprising opportunity to individuals in enhancing the value of small talk.

Encouragement from top management

It is important in an organization that the welfare of employees is understood by management and HR for a culture to thrive. Working from home has blurred the lines between people’s jobs and their personal lives, and without routines like daily commutes to divide them, many employees are struggling to shift gears between the two. Small talk can help people disengage from the “home” role and ease into a business mindset. That’s why it’s a good idea for companies to officially build in time at the start of every meeting for members to greet one another, exchange pleasantries, and ask playful questions. This can also set a positive tone for a meeting.

Virtual catch-ups!

Schedule a brief minute meeting with no agenda, a virtual lounge where teams can socialize and holding regular virtual coffees, trivia nights, and happy hours. Tips for managers and organizers of such casual catch-ups, strategize to pair up employees who don’t already know one another for real-time social interactions. It is important that even in the new work from home culture, employees are still networking and making the random connections we might find in a physical office space. One probable upside in such exchanges, though less spontaneous, would be more inclusivity — giving everyone the opportunity to connect rather than leaving it to chance.

Stick to the script.

Managers and employees alike should be careful not to let social conversations take a negative turn. The golden rule of the professional environment i.e. No sex, religion, and politics should always be adhered. Small talk should be polite, surface level, and focused on neutral topics, like the weather, sports, and TV shows. It should also never devolve into gossip — especially about the company or other employees — which breeds incivility, cynicism, and distrust. Another thing to avoid is excessive self-disclosure: Sharing your deepest anxieties may be okay when you’re meeting a friend for coffee, but it’s not when you’re greeting an acquaintance. If someone asks, “How are you?” it’s ill-mannered to rant about your bad day. Nevertheless, the pandemic has made it commonplace to say things like “Hope you and your family are safe and well” and to acknowledge our feelings of worry and concern.

Work from home opportunity for fortunate employees is not going away soon. And, while we navigate and adapt to numerous phone calls and video calls every day, let’s not underestimate the value of small talk with our second family. Just because we might be working remotely doesn’t mean that casual conversations are no longer important. In fact, they may be more important than ever to help us seize daily opportunities to connect across the virtual divide.

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