MAKING SOCIAL CONNECTIONS AT WORK IS MORE DIFFICULT THAN WORK ITSELF

The wonderful Debbie Millman once shared a story with me about meeting her mentor and friend, Steven Heller, for the first time (more on Debbie and Steven in the INSPIRATION section below.)

She was so nervous that she wrote conversation starters and questions on a piece of paper and hid it under her napkin. Steve put her at ease, and they ended up having the first of many great conversations. No conversation starters needed, but before the lunch was over, she?showed him the notes she had prepared.

For many of us, making new social connections isn't easy, especially at work.

A study by Cigna found that loneliness can lead to job withdrawal.?Lonely workers are twice as likely to miss a day of work due to illness and five times more likely to miss work due to stress. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, Corporate America loses $154 billion annually because of job withdrawal.

Yet, like most things, making social connections is a skill that can be learned.

Research shows that investing in social connection programs can significantly improve a company’s profitability by boosting employee well-being, engagement, sense of purpose, productivity, retention, and innovation.?

As Anne Bowers, a researcher at Cigna highlights, “Worker training and learning curriculums should incorporate education that builds emotional, communicative, and cultural intelligence skills, providing positive organizational psychology exercises for generating constructive feelings and meaningfulness.”

My friend Ruth Gotian, Ed.D., M.S. , chief learning officer at Weill Cornell Medicine, and I have been discussing this topic all summer, and we’ve now published two articles on it in Fast Company!

Our first article This is how you develop (and rekindle) workplace friendships explored how to make friends at work.

The second, How to maintain professional relationships when you’re constantly switching jobs , tackles the even more challenging task of starting over when you change jobs, and it just came out.

Ruth, a social scientist who studies high achievers (think Olympic athletes, Nobel Prize-winning scientists, astronauts), and I, as an industrial designer applying design thinking to life and work, come at these topics from different angles.?Ruth brings insights from her wide-ranging research from habits of high achievers to the impact of mentorship, while my design thinking approach offers practical tools to apply those insights to everyday life—together, we provide a unique perspective on how to build meaningful social connections that enhance both personal fulfillment and professional success.?Our articles reflect how we think, research, and solve these intellectual and emotional problems.

Writing together has also given us the chance to deepen our own friendship—practicing what we preach!

If any of this resonates with you, please feel free to share it with a friend or colleague and start a conversation.

Ayse + Ruth

INSPIRATION ?

Design Connections

If you’re interested in exploring corporate learning programs focused on building social connections, fostering a sense of belonging, and deepening purpose at work, please reach out to Leah Caplan([email protected] ) to learn more about our Design Connections?program. Design Connections is an interactive, peer-to-peer corporate program that helps employees develop strategies and techniques for creating and sustaining meaningful social connections at work.

Ruth Gotian

You can follow Ruth Gotian on LinkedIn , where she’s a Top Mentoring Voice. She’s also the author of The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring: A complete guide to effective mentoring , co-written with Andy Lopata, and The Success Factor: Developing the Mindset and Skillset for Peak Business Performance .

Debbie Millman

Debbie Millman is a giant of brand design, author, and podcaster of Design Matters. You can dive into her work and prolific mind here .Debbie interviewed me in 2016 (a badge of honor for me!) and you can listen to us here.

Steven Heller

Steven Heller is also a giant of design, design writing, and education. He is known, among other things, as the author who has written the most number of design books. Take a look here for a wonderful entry into his world.

For our design programs, please email Leah Caplan, VP, Design and Project Planning, Birsel + Seck, at?[email protected] .

For coaching engagements, please email Jacquelyn Lane, President, 100 Coaches, at?[email protected] .

For speaking engagements, please email Nancy Aaronson at?[email protected] .