Editorial
A group of people isn’t a “team” just because someone calls them that. Teams are something more. When you’re a part of a team, you feel it. That sense of camaraderie, mutual trust and accountability, and the strength of being a part of something greater — that’s connection.
Ironically, more collaboration tools only compound the symptoms of disconnection. So why is it that today, when teams have channels galore and more ways than ever to communicate, we find it so very hard? Connection takes more than technology.
Focusing on the personal, the relational — the human — aspects of collaboration must become part of the basic operating system of teamwork.
As our colleague Sarah Nelson, Chief Design Officer at Kyndryl, says: “Humans are intensely social, and the way we behave in one group is different from another. So when you think of a group as a team versus just a collection of individuals, it behaves more like an organism with a unique voice of its own.”
Our own research shows that the biggest concern of people working in remote teams is a lack of social connection with colleagues. In the midst of the pandemic in 2020, people indicated in our yearly survey that they missed social interactions with colleagues most.
In particular, team connection lies at the center of mental well-being. According to a Capgemini report, 56% of people feel disconnected from their colleagues because of remote work (that’s a global average). The toll of disconnection adds up. Cigna found that loneliness could cost the U.S. economy over $406 billion a year.
To address this, you need to build team connection from the ground up into your strategy.
Collaboration Design and Connection Building
In a previous piece, I discussed the notion of collaboration design, or any intentional act to guide teamwork and move things forward.
Collaboration design isn’t just about improving meetings that happen in real-time. It’s also about the behaviors and activities that happen in between live interactions. And it’s about the development of teamwork, belonging, and accomplishment over time, as well.
In fact, if we model the collaboration experience of a team over time, it looks like a journey through two distinct cycles: affective collaboration (how group members feel toward each other while interacting) and effective collaboration (how well they accomplish productive tasks). Each has its own phases that collide or coincide with the other as collaboration unfolds.
The point to remember is that solving problems together and operational efficiency isn’t enough to have high performing teams: you also have to consider relationships. After all, you don’t hire machines; you hire people. Any attempt to improve teamwork must explicitly recognize the human and personal aspects at play.
Team-building rituals, in particular, are intentional activities brought into group interactions that strengthen relationships between team members. When they feel connected to each other, it boosts employee performance, as well as increases the meaning of work for them.
In her book Rituals Roadmap, author Erica Keswin re-tells the impact of rituals in the workplace with a story of connection among firefighters. It turns out that firefighters who consistently eat dinner together also perform better on the job, according to research by Kevin Kniffin, professor at Cornell University. That age-old tradition of sharing spaghetti and meatballs at the fire station once a week literally influences matters of life and death out in the field, according to the research.
If that’s true, then what do team-building rituals mean for performance at work? And can we leverage rituals — small gestures and activities that tie us together — to our advantage as part of a broader strategy around mental well-being?
Related Article: Building and Leading Collaborative Teams
Introduce Team-Building Rituals One at a Time
Cultural transformation happens when collective behaviors change. This rarely happens all at once. Rituals activate better collaboration, interaction by interaction, on the ground level. Small, deliberate activities that might take just 2 minutes to complete can show big results when done regularly.
For example, we’ve found ritualizing team check-ins — short exercises to ‘get present’ to one another before beginning a meeting — can have a huge impact on the subsequent interactions. One of our favorite check-ins at Mural is “Pick Your Nic.” It’s simple: Before a meeting, people add their names to a sticky note and then indicate which sentiment they identify with by way of Nicholas Cage characters.
With small rituals like this, your aim at first is simply to get everyone used to how these warm-ups work. You’ll also want to explore different options to find out which works best. Things might even be awkward initially, but once everyone on a team knows the process, it becomes second nature.
Then, introduce another team-building ritual. Public recognition rituals, for instance, are very effective in promoting the mental well-being of teams. Author Jamil Zaki, professor of psychology at Stanford University, shows that acts of kindness towards others help form stronger connections between people. He shows that connection isn’t just about helping people feel comfortable with colleagues — it’s actually what motivates them to do their best work.
For instance, at Mural we have a separate Slack channel called #kudos. There, any colleague can give credit to others for good teamwork and for living up to company values. Others can join in with a flurry of emojis and comments to second the recognition. Celebrating wins on a regular basis connects and motivates.
Related Article: Is Your Employee Recognition Program in Need of a Reboot?
Small Steps Can Have a Big Impact
Ultimately, the goal is to create a series of “tiny habits” within teams. Changing behavior happens best by taking baby steps.
Making sweeping, team-wide changes takes a lot of effort and time. There’s something daunting about making large changes that sets them up for failure. Instead, taking incremental steps helps overcome inertia in a realistic way.
Your first visit to the gym rarely results in measurable outcomes. You can’t suddenly run further or lift more weight after one session. You have to believe that if you consistently and routinely exercise, you’ll get the outcomes you seek.
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The same applies to building connection. While organization-wide programs help demonstrate a commitment to employees and raise awareness of issues, taking small steps is how actual behaviors and attitudes shift. Employing team-building rituals and making them part of your routine can have a huge impact on your overall culture and bottom line.
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