Hi guys, welcome back to the Work Smart channel. I hope you are doing great.

Today’s topic is workplace isolation.  Image this, after the holiday, three people in the office are talking about one of their trips to London. You approach them and say, did you just mention London? And nobody responds to you.

Here is another example: you are the one the leader doesn’t like the most, and your colleagues follow leader’s preference, creating an environment where you are not welcomed in the team.

These are examples of workplace isolation.

In this episode, I will discuss into three parts.

1- what is workplace isolation?

2- what’s are the consequences of experiencing isolation in workplace?

3- How can we deal with this situation?

First, let’s define workplace isolation.  “Lacking satisfying friendship relationshipsor accessing to social networks in the workplace (Marshall et al., 2007, p.198). This is one of the most widely used definition in academic literature.

Second, the consequences of work isolation are pretty obvious, right? If you are isolated, it can lead to mental health problems, harming your well-being and job performance.  To be more specific, if I am being isolated and don’t recognize it, I might feel lonely, lose confidence in my relationships with colleagues, and ruminate after work, which could lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout. If I don’t deal with this stress properly, my work performance will also suffer.

By the way, research also shows that mental stress can kill creativity and impact decision- making.

Finally, let’s discuss how to deal with the isolation in workplace?  If people are ignoring you and don’t want to talk to you, don’t initiate non-work related conversations with them. Keep it professional. Focus on business topics and reply politely and briefly to unrelated topics if they approach you. Give it a few months and see if things change.

For team-level isolation, try to build relationships with colleagues outside your immediate teams. Workplace relationships are important because you spend most of your time there especially in traditional office setting. You need someone to talk to, and sharing with friends outside of work is also a good way to relieve stress.

Remember: Don’t bottle everything up inside, or it will lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout.

And one more thing — never punish yourself for some one else’s mistakes.

That’s it for today!

I hope you’ve taken something valuable from this episode, and I hope you never experience workplace isolation.