People are craving connection right now. The don’t want more ‘who’s doing what?’ transactional conversations, not more superficial chats about work or home. They are looking for deeper human to human connection.

Check in with yourself. How connected do you feel right now to your peers? How often are you hanging out with good friends with whom you share deep bonds? How many people could you (would you?) put out a call for help to, should you need it today?

People in the workplace are also feeling like they have too much on their to-do list, so despite the desire for connection, they also want to be left alone to ‘get shit done’. In this classic human dichotomy, our connection efforts must be intentional and deliver on the human needs, or they risk being seen as a waste of time.

And what’s happening in the brain? As a species, we have evolved for social connection. Our brain treats social pain (eg a lack of inclusion) in the same way as physical pain (eg a broken bone). A threat state is triggered if we fear exclusion, and the results aren’t good for business! These include** reduced intelligent thought, increase in self-defeating behaviour, putting ourselves before the group, impaired self-regulation and decreased well-being. Not what we want for ourselves or our people!

As a leader, you can focus on the business outcomes, or you can choose to consciously invest in supporting webs of connection across your organisation.

Here are five ideas which will help boost connection in the team you lead:

1. Dedicate an ‘agenda-less hour’. When reflecting on Fearless Leadership workshops with me, often senior leadership teams comment on the value of the less structured time to explore what’s important beyond the immediate workflow. Build in (and protect!) time in your leadership team meetings.
2. Surprise a colleague with a coffee. Show up in their office (not so easy when working virtual) with a takeaway coffee. Ask about their life beyond work, and genuinely curious.
3. Take your team out of the office and learn something about someone/something else. Recently I joined a team on a 90-minute walking tour on the Yarra River run by the Koori Heritage Trust. Other things one client shared with me this week were bird watching in Carlton Gardens, bowling, and visiting an escape room.
4. Team meeting in an alternative venue – a client site, café, community space. When I worked at 55 Collins Street years ago, I would take my team to Treasury Gardens for picnic lunch/team meeting.
5. Ask ‘What’s on your mind?’ and WAIT for the answer. (And then wait some more for the answer behind the answer!) You don’t need to solve the things you hear – you do need to hold the space for the conversation.

It’s simplistic and short sighted to argue we should stay at our desks and focus on the work at hand, because the value of connection can’t be overestimated. When people know and understand one another, the work happens more smoothly, with less communication miss-hits and rework. Teams are more productive.

What will you do today to intentionally build connection?

Go Fearlessly (and connectedly) – Corrinne