Battling Disconnectedness and Chaos: Practical Steps for Staying Connected with Your Team

April 4, 2022 9:00 am Published by

Connectedness has become a huge issue within our culture. The disconnectedness and loneliness created by the COVID-19 pandemic created massive upheaval in our daily social structure (working remotely, reduced social interaction with friends and family, chaos related to children’s education and activities).

Our work life has been equally disrupted. Not only with arrangements related to remote, working from home and hybrid working issues, but our normal patterns of relating and communicating have been affected. When we see our colleagues, where we see them, how often we interact, the mode of communication (email, phone, video conference, text, in person) and the purpose of our interactions – have all changed. No wonder we feel stressed and disoriented.

We recently published an article on the key role connectedness has in retaining employees and how our Appreciation at Work training process facilitates keeping colleagues connected at both work-based and personal levels. These address the issue of disconnectedness at a macro level. But sometimes we need some practical, easy-to-use actions that we can do today.

So, here are some simple, single-step behaviors we can put in place with our colleagues immediately.  None of them, by themselves, are momentous. But when used together, over time, they will definitely create a greater sense of togetherness between team members – both between two individuals and among a small group.

Potential connection-building activities:

  • Tell stories (about the weekend, about your family)
  • Use humor – share funny memes & videos
  • Share something about yourself (a recent movie you saw)
  • Have them share some about themselves
  • Get to know their interests and things they enjoy (food, shows, music, hobbies)
  • Find common areas of interest and experiences
  • Do tasks together
  • Share memories of past events
  • Celebrate life successes and experiences (birthdays, graduations)
  • Eat together (in the office or out)
  • Spend time together in different contexts and settings (go to sporting event, go for a walk)

It’s important to remember that relationships (and workplace culture) are developed over time through a combination of structured and spontaneous activities. Life has both rhythm, repetitiveness and unplanned, serendipitous events. Getting to know others and connecting with them will happen more rapidly when we both plan some things to do and when we enjoy those that just happen.

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Interested in learning more about connectedness and its importance in the workplace? Dr. White is giving a free webinar hosted by Terry Berry on April 14th. He’ll be discussing how resilience, neuroscience and positive psychology play a part in employee retention. Click here to learn more and register.

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April 4, 2022 9:00 am

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