How to Build Relationships With Coworkers You've Never Met in Person

It's harder to build rapport over chat and video alone, but fully remote teams do it successfully all the time with a little extra intention.

Turn your camera on when you can

Seeing faces, even briefly, builds familiarity that voice or text alone doesn't.

Use the first few minutes of calls for small talk

• A brief, genuine check-in before diving into the agenda
• Remembering small personal details people share

Create informal touchpoints

A casual, optional virtual coffee chat or team channel for non-work topics can substitute for hallway conversations.

Be generous with recognition

Publicly acknowledging a colleague's good work in a team channel does a lot to build goodwill remotely.