BUILDING AUTHENTIC CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR TEAM

By Jasmine Freeman

Whether you are in-person or remote, build connections that make a difference.

Overview

How connected are you and your team? Are you simply getting the job done, or are you getting it done with precision focus, feeling in flow and maximizing the time and talents of your work unit in the process?

We have all been witness to the sweeping changes of our work cultures since the COVID-19 pandemic. In this new world, many of us now have some level of experience with working remotely. In fact, some of us will not be returning to the office as-we-knew-it. COVID-19 flipped everything in our industry on its head and our way of working was one of the many things that completely changed. While some of us have returned to our brick-and-mortar offices, that is not the case for everyone.

Many of our colleagues have been thrust fully into remote working and not only are they navigating how to work efficiently in this environment, they are working through the ‘how’ of staying authentically connected with their teams.

We’ve also seen a shift in how hard our team members are willing to work. Quietly quitting the hustle culture for a more balanced work/home life.

Leadership starts with you. Whether you hold the title, or not. Let’s explore some ways to better engage as teams to offer a more worthwhile and connected work experience, build better communication and create a more engaged workforce.

Why It Matters

According to Gallup’s 2022 State of the Global Workplace, only 21 percent of employees are engaged in the workplace. 79% of employees are disengaged, which means they likely have a negative view of their workplace or they only deliver the bare minimum. Layer in the isolation that working from home can bring and we’ve got some completely disconnected folks out there.

Quiet Quitting is the newest trend that everyone is talking about, but it’s not a new practice. According to TikTok user @ zaidleppelin, quiet quitting is not outright quitting your job. It is quitting the idea of going above and beyond. You still perform your duties but you no longer subscribe to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life. The popularity of this term shows where we are at as a culture. What if we all had a little bit more connection and feeling of appreciation from the people we worked with, would we still feel the need to disengage?

Working from home creates a whole new kind of isolation, we lose out on the little things like catching up over coffee, checking in to see how your colleagues spent their weekend, finding those people in the office who share similar interests or taking time out of the day to meet up for lunch. We’re no longer tapping into those resources around us that help us to grow and further develop as professionals. We lose the opportunity to create and build meaningful and authentic connections with one another.

It doesn’t have to be that way. We can and will rise above this hurdle with a tenacious resilience.

Connection with those we work with is much more than simply being able to do your job. This is about staying relevant and impactful in today’s workplace as well as gaining and maintaining your influence.

Let’s take a look at some tips and ideas to help team leaders create authentic connections and increase engagement within their teams.

The Daily Huddle

Several years ago, I worked with a team of five people. A small yet mighty force; we were proud of what we created on a global scale. Our team grew close over the years, like family. We had a practice that we all looked forward to in our office, we called it the ‘daily huddle’. We would come together every morning for a daily five-to-ten-minute meeting.

The daily huddle was a time designated for each of us to talk about something that wasn’t work related. We took turns leading the daily huddle based on five key areas we identified as an area we valued.

We didn’t realize it at the time but consistent focus on these five areas was a holistic approach to employee wellness.

We called this the five pillars, and they are:

1. Career: resources and ideas focused on professional development

2. Family: relationship nurturing with family, significant other, close friends, pets

3. Financial: resources education to strengthen financial health

4. Spiritual: soul-filling whether it is nature, religion, meditation

5. Wellness: resources for your overall well-being

Each day we took turns leading the huddle with a specific focus on one of the above topics. We might have brought an exercise, shared a thoughtful bit of information or a challenge for everyone to try.

The lovely thing about the team huddle is that it’s completely up to you on how you’d like to design it.

Designing Your Team Huddle

• Determine the frequency of how often you’ll meet. A suggestion would be to try to huddle daily or once a week.

• Communicate the importance of making this huddle a priority. Whatever you decide, it is best if you stick to it consistently, it should be a priority for your team.

• Decide the format and what you’ll discuss.

• Stay away from work, focus on building relationships and rapport

• What’s on your mind this week

• Question of the Week

• Share some love or “high fives”, a way to express gratitude for one another

• 2-minute check-in per person based off the ‘Q’ of the week

• It is okay to share what’s happening in your personal life.

• When your team feels safe and trusting of one another, they may express more vulnerable shares. Is this something you are okay with or will you have ground rules in this area?

• Keep it short! If this meeting takes too much of your team’s time, they are less likely to stick with it.

Real Life Virtual Examples

During lockdown, I found myself again part of a small team. Many of our staff were on furlough or reassignment. Those of us who were tasked with maintaining day-to-day operations met every day with purpose via our preferred video-meeting software. At the end of the week, we changed it up, we focused our meeting exclusively on a “how are you doing” format. We took the time and spoke about how we were coping with the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a lot of ground to cover every week and as we virtually linked arms and had this vulnerable moment with one another we were able to be there, listen, provide support or be supported depending on where we were from week-to-week. I was surprised at how many of us missed the opportunity to do this with our work force during lockdown, but it’s not too late to start checking in and building connections now.

Other Ways to Do the Huddle

I stumbled across one of my favorites, Simon Sinek, and his long-time remote-working team during their very own huddle. I was so happy to bear witness to the way they orchestrated this practice and learned some new things to share with you.

Highlights:

• Build trust through establishing relationships with each other

• Accomplish more as a team by taking the time to pause and celebrate one another

• Try using a ‘Question of the Week’

I encourage you to take time to see an example of their team huddle in action at https://youtu.be/tKEtm3HCrsw.

Are You Present?

It’s a little easier to identify when someone is really present with us when we are in-person, so my focus here will be more on how to ensure you and your team members are fully present in the virtual environment.

Have you noticed that the virtual meeting has quickly modeled after our in-person meetings? Our schedules are packed all over again and we have literally zero minutes in between these back-to-back appointments throughout the day. This has us ‘showing up’ with half our attention on the screen while we try to tackle our inbox in the background.

As you begin to craft your huddle format, consider this, it is important to take a moment to allow everyone to become fully present for this time together.

When I had the opportunity to speak at a virtual learning event, I used an exercise that I found to be a great resource. This is a way to bring your team together and allow them to become fully present before you even get your huddle started.

The source: Chad Littlefield, Co-founder, Speaker, Author and Creator of We! Connect Cards. Chad is an expert at helping people ask better questions to build more authentic connections.

Using these methods can allow us to better show up for one another and ourselves.

When joining your team meeting virtually try these steps together in this order:

1. Silence; observing a moment of silence to allow everyone time to fully arrive at the meeting.

a. One of the great lost arts of conversation is silence, allowing this open time for people to pause and reflect before jumping into your next topic.

b. Ask yourself, “when can I give my group time to take silence and reflect?”

c. Invite your team to be present.

d. Guide your team with 60 seconds of silence. Help everyone shift from whatever they have been to doing to being completely present here with the team. Challenge them to resist the urge to pick up their phone, switch tabs to another browser, check email. You can move into step three as you wrap up this step.

2. Podcast Mode, next you ask your participants to enter into “Podcast Mode.” Podcast mode is simply asking everyone to turn off their video function, keeping sound activated. While video is off:

a. Check your state of mind. Are you...

i. Feeling Great

ii. Exhausted

iii. Overwhelmed

iv. Low moral

b. Make a physical shift to change that state of mind

i. Shift Your State; you will take a brief moment to allow everyone to be aware of ‘shifting their state.’ That can be as simple as changing their position physically, such as sitting up in their chair.

c. Change your last name to the mental state you would LIKE to be in

i. Peaceful, zen, happy, energized

ii. Example, my name would then read: Jasmine Energized

d. Your team members will then set their intention and motivation following your invitation

3. Show Up

a. Now it is time to turn the video back on and hide self-view if you can find that option.

i. One of the biggest contributions to “zoom fatigue” is that we spend so much energy in conversation with others while simultaneously looking at ourselves while we are talking to someone else.

ii. It takes up an enormous amount of cognitive ability to do this. iii. Simply “hiding self-view” allows you to be REALLY present with the people you are with.

b. Decreases exhaustion, low motivation or lack of drive to engage.

Try this practice next time you are leading a huddle with your team virtually to allow everyone time to become present and show up as the person they intend to be.

Success Tips For Better Virtual Meetings With Your Team

By engaging with your colleagues in a way that shows you value your time together, you will build stronger bonds and demonstrate that you have respect for your teammates.

1. Be present, turn off notifications/do not disturb, get your water.

2. Use headphones to protect their privacy and maintain confidentiality.

3. Be prepared, organized and useful.

4. Use visual cues or reactions to quickly communicate, thumbs up, speed/ slow timing.

5. Have a clean, designated work space.

6. Have an order or system in place regarding how to pass the conversation around to others.

7. Have clear expectations.

Proactive Care

Be aware of how your team members are doing. Take the time to check in with them and ensure they are alright. It’s okay to not be okay, but do your team members know this and feel safe communicating with you when things aren’t going so well?

Don’t Be Afraid to Make a Phone Call.

• Did something seem off with your co-worker today?

• Are you not quite sure how your email was received but it feels like your peer has been acting strangely ever since you had expressed some concerns about a project you are working on together?

• Is someone missing or withdrawn?

Calling someone and having a conversation, person-to-person, real time can make all the difference. Have an honest conversation. Be open with your intentions.

Examples of expressions may be:

• I noticed something feels off, is it me?

• I felt it was worth a call to check in ...

• How are you doing right now?

Be understanding and respectful if your colleague doesn’t want to talk about it. Reaching out will let them know you value them enough to notice and care enough to reach out and ensure they are alright. Establishing trust and stronger bonds takes time, you won’t see success overnight.

Ways to Get Connected

As our environments shift and our staff learns how to set new boundaries around work for themselves, leadership has a great opportunity here to help their teams stay connected and thrive.

You can also put trust into your team to experiment with ways that they feel most authentically connected with others. Open an invitation for them to choose what they would like to do. Need some help getting started? Explore these methods to create better connections:

• Schedule in-person or virtual lunch dates

• Create a space to post photos of pets

• Host an organization-wide book club

• Have a monthly online ‘lunch and learn’ featuring speakers and topics that are of interest to your team

• Have a post-work cooking competition or experience amongst the team using a service like ChefTorial

• Volunteer together

• Plan an organization-wide virtual talent show

Have Fun!

Creating connection and engagement with your team can and should be fun. Search for ways to engage with one another that works for your team environment. I’ve shared some examples below to get you started. Of course, as with all of the other ideas shared in this article, you can tailor these ideas to fit your own team. In fact, I encourage you to do so!

1. Before We Get Started…

a. Ask each member of your team this question, ‘What is something YOU know really well?’

b. Then ask! ‘How did you get to know a lot about X?’ c. This activity is more about being intentional and engaging in conversation. You’ll be surprised what you learn about each other.

2. Industry Perks

a. One of the festivals I work with hosted a concert and happy hour zoom for their team. Even a simple happy hour to hang out and chat would be beneficial. If you prefer to keep it alcohol free, a virtual coffee/ tea chat could be just as much fun for your team.

3. Scavenger Hunt

a. Surprise your team with a quick scavenger hunt during your meeting. Have them engage by coming back with specific items. Tie those items into the meeting purpose if you’re feeling extra creative or just do this for fun and an excuse to get up from our desks and race around for a few minutes.

Conversation Prompts

I’ve been encouraging you to take the time to get to know and engage with your team. Doing this will take a certain amount of effort and conversation with them. Asking powerful questions, at the right time, can help you to begin forming those bonds.

The gift of conversation doesn’t come naturally to all of us. Having a few prompts ready to dive into deeper communication can ensure you facilitate more meaningful connections. Pick something from the list below or come up with your own to try and see what works.

• What is something that made you smile?

• What is something kind someone has done for you?

• What is something that amazes you?

• What is something that you know really well?

• What is something you miss from the past?

• What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done?

• What is one of the most meaningful affirmations you have ever received?

• Focus less on yourself and more on the other person

Make Better Connections

As members of the International Festival and Events Association (IFEA), we witnessed firsthand how to begin using virtual platforms to create bonds with people we barely know.

Take the IFEA Affinity Groups for example. We assembled during the pandemic and are still meeting monthly with one another, sharing our experiences, trying to understand it all, collectively wishing we had a crystal ball.

How many of us have stayed in touch with connections that were made with people you may never see in-person? What made the difference for you in building that connection?

I encourage you to give a few of these ideas a try and create conversations that matter among your team members. The benefits of successfully achieving connection will continue to provide rewards to you and your colleagues. You will have gained a piece of knowledge and appreciation for one another - rather than just a face in a box on the screen.

I’m not asking you to expect that your staff will become best friends, but you can give them the opportunity to build authentic connections and relationships with one another within their own comfort level.

Organizations achieve greater retention through relationships.

Inspire your people to stay at a place they feel respected and heard. Even if they don’t physically see you every day, they can feel like a valued and connected part of your team.

Jasmine Freeman, Special Events Administrator for the City of Las Vegas. She has over 15 years’ experience planning and executing events and is currently responsible for the oversight of several hundred permitted events throughout the City of Las Vegas and city parks to include, but not limited to the annual Helldorado Days Parade, First Friday, Life Is Beautiful, Rock ‘n’ Roll Race Series, Chinese New Year, PRIDE, the Highland Games-Celtic Festival and the Mint 400 Off-road Racing Festival.

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