Passing Strangers
Without making time to build meaningful connections between employees, teams aren't just unproductive, they can be miserable places to work.
When colleagues remain anonymous faces in video calls, empathy is diminished and loneliness festers. These disconnected teams of strangers communicate through email, stumble through work like ships passing in the night, miss crucial insights, duplicate efforts, and burn out faster than those who have taken the time to get to know each other.
Great managers actively invest in helping teammates to get to know each other as humans first, colleagues second. Of course, this works best when the team can be together in one place. However, simple events that I’ve worked with teams to create to improve and maintain connections include:
Weekend coffee stories
Human hours
Real talk sessions
Beyond work chats
Face-to-face Fridays
Work without connection can often feel like organised suffering, where people can’t wait to get to the end of their working day with their sanity intact.
Yet, when team members genuinely care about each other, ideas flow freely, feedback becomes easier, support appears naturally, and work becomes energising rather than draining.
Don’t let your team become passing strangers, make time to build deliberate connection instead.
