Ariel DeFrancesco: We realized that it was damn-near impossible to network remotely. 

There were no longer “happenstance encounters” around a water cooler. Moreover, even if there was a theoretical water cooler, it’s not as if those happenstance encounters are necessarily productive. Those encounters were simply a function of propinquity.

Propinquity refers to the physical or psychological proximity between people. Propinquity can mean physical proximity, a kinship between people, or a similarity in nature between things.  If you consider the connections that you’ve formed in your life, the vast majority of them are a function of propinquity. For example, bumping into someone who works out in the same gym as you can lead to great friendships, however in terms of work productivity there is often very little overlap in terms of friends and productive work collaboration.

The idea behind the wehive app and methodology was to tackle the phenomenon of propinquity head-on so as to deliver a uniquely modern, user-centered work experience – one that all users deserve.

With the wehive app our goal is to enable colleagues to ask for help, share hacks, or express development interest. It’s a place where busy bees thrive and we add value to organizations by:

• Improving culture and collaboration
• Facilitating remote networking
• Increasing diversity, equity & inclusion
• Flexing resources, insourcing
• Increasing employee retention