How to Build Better Relationships at Work
The great shift to hybrid work, while great for flexibility and well-being (let’s be honest, no one likes spending an hour of their day commuting!) has also ushered in some of the highest rates of disconnection and disengagement ever recorded at work. People love working from home, but they also miss seeing their coworkers and connecting more deeply with their team. We also know from the research that employees who have a best friend at work are seven times more engaged in their job, and that if you do not have a close friend at work, there’s only a one in twelve chance that you’ll be engaged at work.
One way to build deeper relationships at work is to start your next meeting with a personal share.
Instead of trying to add team building time to an already packed schedule of wall-to-wall Zoom meetings, build personal connection time into your existing meetings. Spending five or ten minutes, or even just one minute connecting, allows us to learn new things about ourselves and our colleagues. It disrupts day-to-day busywork and helps us discover what our colleagues are experiencing in their lives.
Here are few prompts to get you started:
Did you do anything exciting this weekend?
Have you discovered a show or podcast you originally thought was lame but turns out is awesome?
What’s the last lesson your child or a family member taught you?
Is there anything happening in your world that the rest of us should know about?
What’s a small win you’ve had recently that we haven’t celebrated yet?
Who is someone you’re grateful for this week and why?
If someone isn’t interested in sharing or talking about their personal life at work, that’s totally cool, they can simply opt-out and pass. But they don’t get to create a culture where others don’t get to share either.
These quick personal shares at the start of a meeting can go a long way toward building vulnerability, creating new connections, and deepening workplace friendships.
Take Action: Before your next in-person or virtual team meeting, come up with a personal prompt to ask your team at the start of the meeting. Moving forward, a different person can pick the prompt, so you’re hearing from different voices and making your meetings more interesting and inclusive. Workplace connection doesn’t have to feel boring or overwhelming! So many people meet their future best friend, boss, mentor, cofounder, or collaborator, and it all starts with having an interesting conversation.
Note: I originally published this post in my friend Logan Ury’s newsletter, Logan’s Love Letter. Logan is a behavioral scientist turned dating and relationships coach, and author of the fantastic book, How To Not Die Alone. I also published it on my Substack Newsletter on August 21, 2024.
