Not just colleagues. Not just a work tool.

Despite the heat wave and the summer holidays approaching – there is a heavy sigh hanging in the air. Various public tragedies seem far too frequent in the news right now.

Whenever there is an event, anywhere in the world, our colleagues message each other to ensure our safety locally. This got me thinking. The people that we all work with – we spend (even when remote working!) at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, interacting with them. We congratulate them on job changes, on personal situations such as new additions to the family, we wish them well for their holidays and we welcome new starters.

Monday’s interactions start with ‘how was your weekend?’ and Fridays close with ‘have a fabulous weekend’.

These conversations, virtual or in person, happen over our business tools or on business premises, and between real people – not work robots. The relationships built are real. We sometimes speak with colleagues more than we do friends or family!

The people we work with are not just colleagues or peers or managers. They are our work family – which comes with personality clashes and also with deep friendships. Some may be close, but many don’t mix their personal social channels with work colleagues.

The tools that we use to collaborate and communicate are not just work tools. When an incident occurs, Circuit notifications pop up at the weekend or evening: ‘Are you ok?’

1001 Uses for Circuit: #872. Checking that your work family is safe.