The Importance of Building Great Workplaces

We recently had one of those weeks where our office in Mooresville, NC, was filled with energy. We were holding a quarterly strategy meeting, which meant most of our team came into the office. Like many companies, Gifted Travel Network has a hybrid workforce, with some people coming into the office almost daily and others who rarely see the office. We have three team members who live in other states, and it isn’t practical – logistically or economically – for them to come in frequently.??

I know I am a bit old-school in my thinking on this, but I like having an office to go to. Not so much for the physical space (although ours is beautiful) but for the time with the team. Those casual and unscripted moments in the office with co-workers help build relationships. And relationships lead to stronger teams.??

Sure, I know we can all work from home quite effectively – and sometimes more effectively than in an office with lots of distractions – but I maintain that it isn’t as effective for team building. I am not advocating that we abandon remote work or that everyone be in the office every day, but I think we will all benefit if we put some focus on building teams in whatever form they exist.?

Recently, The New York Times Magazine ’s feature article , “Why is the loneliness epidemic so hard to cure?” spoke to this very issue:??

Post-pandemic, office buildings in every major city remain empty; something like 22 million Americans now work from home, communicating with their colleagues through Zoom or Slack. Whether or not you believe that “virtual commuting” is good for productivity, it is demonstrably bad for community building. A July report by Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, and a team of researchers asked 4,300 Americans to talk about their social circle; most respondents said they had met their close friends through school or work. But the numbers were skewed by age: People 51 years or older were more than twice as likely to have met at least one close friend at work as people under 30.?“Removing the social aspect of work further encourages remote workers to keep their jobs at arm’s length,”?Hall wrote in The Wall Street Journal. “This detachment could have the twin effects of maintaining a better work-life balance but leave workers lonelier than they would be had they made office friends.”?

The term “office friends” is probably something the over-50 crowd is very familiar with. Many people find lifelong friends at work. Others find spouses or life partners at work (I did). But for those under 30, things appear different. For many of them, their entire working life has been remote or in a hybrid setting where you go in when you have to. It’s harder to make meaningful connections with people when you’re only interacting with them when you “have to.”??

Those casual conversations in the breakroom about the lunch you are reheating or how annoying the microwave is actually have a benefit: you’re connecting with another human being. No, this isn’t deep life-changing conversation, but it is connection with someone else, and that seems to be something we are losing.??

The New York Times Magazine article referenced above talks about how increasingly isolated we are and how that is manifesting in depression and anxiety – particularly in younger people. It isn’t likely that it is just from one cause (I am looking at you, social media), but a variety of factors, which means that creating meaningful interactions at work can quite literally change lives.??

You don’t have to be a sociologist or psychologist to make a difference. Just going out of your way to say hello to someone is a start. When you ask someone how they are, actually listen to the answer. Make it a mission to learn more about the human beings occupying the various teams you are part of. They have passions and interests outside work that you may find fascinating. You will at least learn more about your colleagues.??

If you are in a leadership role within an organization, you have an even greater imperative to care for the health of your team. What can you do to connect with them and encourage them to connect with one another? They don’t have to become best friends, but when team members understand one another as humans, they are far more likely to work together more effectively and will be happier in their jobs. Everyone wins.??

Yes, I know we are all busy with many very important initiatives and goals to accomplish, but how will things move forward without the people who get the work done? It’s worth the time.??