"How can you feel more connected to your colleagues? --- you ask
I think that to say "hello" is a relatively superficial means to connect to our colleagues even though it can constitute a starting point to initiate a connection with them. This connection can be foster if we form, say, a joint community, namely a groug research. We can feel more connected with our colleagues when we are empathic to them, that is, share their psychological emotions, fellings, and the like, and hence are able to put in their shoes.