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Covid lockdowns had many of us working from home. It was safe and efficient. But since returning to work, there has been a remarkable shift toward remote work. Although this flexible way of working has many benefits for staff and challenges our views on needing those large city centre offices, I can’t help feeling something is missing.

I have friends whose children started work as the pandemic kicked in, so never experienced the full office benefits. They now expect to work remotely. In fact, if it’s not offered, they look elsewhere for work. It’s almost an expectation.

So, what is it that’s missing?

We have digital tools to virtually meet. TEAMs and Zoom calls are easy to set up and people can join from all locations. Considerably less travel, less commuting, better for the environment etc.
But there is a real downside. Remote working has significantly reduced informal "water cooler" conversations—those spontaneous, casual interactions among colleagues—that were commonplace in traditional office settings. This change has notable implications for employee engagement, innovation, and organisational culture (Marshall, 2022).

Before covid I would have wandered over to the coffee machine, bumped into the head of IT, and casually asked if that update had been implemented, or maybe the person from logistics and confirmed that the product had been sent to my customer. But now, I have to email the question and wait for a response, or phone and leave a message on an answerphone and wait for a reply, or worse, search calendars to find a slot to send an appointment for a TEAMs call, all for something that’s a 10-second question and move on. It somehow feels less efficient.

Casual workplace interactions often serve as conduits for idea exchange and innovation. The absence of these spontaneous discussions in remote work settings can hinder the organic flow of ideas, potentially stifling creativity and problem-solving. I can recall many situations where a quick discussion at the coffee machine regarding a current problem has been solved when a third, unconnected person leans in to get the milk and asks, ‘have you tried this?’.

David A. Marshall (2022) highlights that missing out on these interactions may affect innovation, professional development, and overall job satisfaction. A friend is a software developer, and he mentioned that there had been a discussion among experienced developers in the team, outlining concerns that the loss of informal chats has impeded the generation of new ideas, underscoring the value of these interactions in fostering creativity (A Reddit user’s insight, 2023).

For new employees, the lack of informal interactions can exacerbate uncertainties about workplace relationships, role expectations, and organisational norms. A study by Woo, Endacott and Myers (2022) found that remote newcomers faced challenges in seeking information and integrating into the company culture without the benefit of casual in-person interactions.

A friend’s son took a role as a brand manager just before lockdown. Working from home was fine, and he did a great job. As things opened up, he argued that his role could be more nomadic. The company had offices in London, Holland, South Africa, and Asia, and he started working out of different offices. On the whole, he was getting the job done, however, when set a task that required him to interact with members of different teams in the London office, he didn’t know who they were, he didn’t have any kind of relationship with them, and he struggled. The other members of the teams all knew each other, had chatted over coffee or lunch, and had even socialised after work. He was on catch-up mode.

I have noticed that some organisations are exploring methods to replicate the benefits of water cooler conversations in virtual environments:

Scheduled Social Interactions: Implementing regular virtual social events, such as informal meetings or "happy hours," can provide platforms for casual conversations.

Randomised Virtual Meetups: There are IT tools that pair employees randomly for virtual coffee chats, fostering connections across teams and departments (A Reddit user’s insight, 2023).

I have taken part in randomised speed networking. For the more extroverted, it's great, but it’s a tough 5 minutes when the other person isn’t used to engaging in small talk.

Conclusion

The decline of informal workplace conversations in remote work settings poses challenges to employee engagement, innovation, and socialisation. We have lost much of the community feeling that motivated my earlier career. However, by proactively implementing virtual alternatives, organisations can mitigate these effects and maintain a cohesive and dynamic work culture (Crowe LLP, 2021).

I for one still prefer to stand at the coffee machine or water cooler and have a quick chat, and get to know the person better.

References

Crowe LLP, 2021. Water Cooler Conversation Isn’t Dead in a Remote Workforce. [online] Available at: https://www.crowe.com/insights/water-cooler-conversation-isnt-dead-in-a-remote-workforce-rwf [Accessed 21 March 2025].

Marshall, D.A., 2022. We’re Missing the Water Cooler Conversations. [online] Available at: https://damarshall.consulting/2022/08/03/were-missing-the-water-cooler-conversations [Accessed 21 March 2025].

A Reddit user’s insight, 2023. Water Cooler Chat & Remote Workers. r/ExperiencedDevs. [online] Available at:

 https://www.reddit.com/r/ExperiencedDevs/comments/10yvgua/water_cooler_chat_remote_workers [Accessed 21 March 2025].

Woo, D., Endacott, C.G. and Myers, K.K., 2022. Navigating Water Cooler Talks Without the Water Cooler: Uncertainty and Information Seeking During Remote Socialization. Communication Reports, 35(2), pp. 75-88. [online] Available at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360967520_Navigating_Water_Cooler_Talks_Without_the_Water_Cooler_Uncertainty_and_Information_Seeking_During_Remote_Socialization[Accessed 21 March 2025].