As the COVID-19 crisis sweeps the world, hundreds of millions of us are already left isolated and forced to work from home. This means teams colleagues and networks are not just facing a physical threat. We are facing a mental crisis as we all attempt to adapt to an uncertain and scary future – both at home and the rapidly changing world outside.

Official advice just published from the World Health Organisation* has highlighted that supporting the mental wellbeing and health of staff is a vital consideration in times of unprecedented change, anxiety and stress. And one of the key considerations is ensuring your colleagues feel connected with each other and maintain their networks.

There are libraries full of neuroscience research that highlight just what social animals we are. But we don’t need a book to tell us we seek trust, values, support and commonality from the community around us and feel reassured with regular contact and connection.

For most of us, our workplace is the community we spend a significant proportion of our waking hours with and rely on for regular social interaction and support.

Even before COVID-19, we were already facing an epidemic of loneliness across many Western societies. A recent study by health service company Cigna showed that almost half of US adults sometimes feel alone and left out. Whilst two in five felt that their relationships were not meaningful and that they are isolated from others. We can only imagine what these figures have jumped to after COVID-19 has taken hold.

Researchers have found that loneliness can be just as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes per day and worse for you than obesity.**

This is in a world where we have seen an exponential rise in social media interactions and ‘conversations’ over the last decade. Clearly we crave meaningful and real connections – quality rather than quantity.

Time and time again research has shown that dis-connection can quickly exacerbate depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

That is why we have taken the radical and rapid decision to switch its business model on its head. For the last 26 years, we have focused on bringing teams together at work to build trust, communication and to lift team morale, spirit and culture – for companies around the world who value connecting their colleagues. The team away day, the get together, the energiser, the conference, the launch – you name it we’ve done it.

Now, in two days – not two decades – we have changed everything in a world that has changed forever.

Never has it been more important to connect teams and colleagues from all areas and across all levels of a business. So we took the decision to use all of our experience and knowledge of what makes people tick to create a series of remote team challenges, games, socials and ways that colleagues can reach out and interact with each other from the safety of their own homes.

And it is already working! We are already helping companies reconnect with colleagues in a disconnected world. Vital, meaningful and engaging regular contact can make all the difference and that is what is driving us to help as many isolated people as we can.

Our new mission is to take the remote out of remote working!