Loneliness is Increasingly Impacting Distributed Workers

Is it the job of a team leader to help distributed team members overcome the blues?

Despite our work and workplace hyper-connectivity, we have become increasingly lonely.

There are days where it seems we've become the subject of a cubist painting.

Detached, disengaged, sad.

And in remote workplaces, the reasons for loneliness are manifold:

➡️ Lack of Informal Interactions. Spontaneous hallway chats, coffee breaks, or lunchroom banter don’t translate easily to digital spaces, reducing opportunities for casual connection.
➡️Asynchronous Communication. Distributed teams often operate across time zones, limiting real-time interactions and making communication with other team members feel transactional rather than relational.
➡️Digital Exhaustion. Endless Zoom sessions can be draining, leading people to avoid optional social time like virtual happy hours or casual check-ins.
➡️Reduced Visibility. When working remotely, it’s easier to feel unseen or overlooked, especially if others are co-located or more vocal in meetings.
➡️Isolation from Company Culture. Culture can feel diluted without shared physical experiences—distributed workers may struggle to “feel” part of the team.
➡️Blurred Boundaries. Remote work can lead to overwork or disconnected routines, leaving little room for social engagement or team bonding.

Whether we work in collocated or distributed settings, the effect is the same. We do the work. We meet or exceed our deliverables. We get recognized for our contributions. And yet, sometimes, we despair.

There's enough on the plate of a workplace team leader, to foster trust, stoke engagement and cohesion, and produce winning results. Yet, oftentimes, the work of checking in with their distributed team members doesn't take high priority.

As we discovered with our guest Nancy Settle-Murphy last week on What’s Your Work Fit?, a lot can be achieved by getting past feeling vibes to making sure all distributed team members are visible. Use the link in comments to watch the playback of last week's live show.

When distributed team members are visible, team leaders are better able to stoke their engagement. And that can provide the team leader opportunities to make sure that their distributed team members are getting out and about throughout their work day.

That's part of a work fit, where work becomes a wonderful part of the day doing other wonderful things such as meeting up with non-work friends for an enjoyable lunch date or for family events like your kid's swim meet or school recital.

When that happens our best days lie ahead.

Image based on our prompts rendered on ChatGPT 4o.

I’m Dan Smolen. As host and executive producer of WHAT'S YOUR WORK FIT? I help you make your work and workplace decisions result in better and more satisfying professional experiences and outcomes. I am also a Founding Member of The Future of Work Alliance.