More lessons in team bonding, culture and employee engagement

Belonging – A BS buzzword or something more profound?

Belonging. If you lead on company culture, employee engagement, event and community creation or team building, you’ll have heard a lot about belonging in 2024.?

And we think there’s a lot more to come in 2025.

Since the pandemic broke many workplaces and teams apart, belonging has been held up as the glue to fix all cracks.?

It’s such a hot topic in the global events industry that Google XI, together with Storycraft Lab and The Valuegraphics Research Company launched a gorgeous hard cover Belonging Playbook during IMEX America.?

A friend lent us their copy which we happily flicked through during a coffee break.?

Every chapter is jam-packed with a-ha moments and practical advice aimed at event planners BUT the concepts apply to learning and development leads, people and talent managers, HR directors, business owners and more.?

In fact, they apply to anyone charged with building – and leveraging – a strong company culture as a source of competitive advantage.

Here’s a taste of just two findings that resonated with us:

1) I feel like I belong when I have strong personal relationships with a couple of people

Corporate clients often come to us for guidance on how to make their remote (dispersed) teams feel more connected to each other.??

It’s a big ask, but it’s not impossible.?

SongDivision has been fully remote since 2004. We’ve never known anything different.?

This heritage gives us a unique and very intimate perspective on what it takes to help employees feel they belong; that they’re part of something valuable and that their contribution makes a difference.?

The thing about belonging is that you can tell someone they belong until you’re blue in the face, but if they don’t feel it, they don’t feel it.?

Our insight? Belonging happens from the inside out, and it can be nurtured from a base of just two or three strong relationships within a team.?

And, in our experience, a sense of belonging only develops after certain conditions have been met, and consistently. Open and regular communication, public recognition (not the same as reward), empathic leadership and psychological safety.

2) I feel like I belong when people accept me for who I am

This reminded us of all the conversations we’ve had where clients were preoccupied with not alienating ‘the introverts’ in their team.?

Another concern is that person X and person Y – frequently leaders of different business units - ‘don’t get on’.? Clients tend to say things like “no amount of putting them together at a team-bonding event will change that.”

This isn’t fair to introverts or so-called ‘competitive’ leaders.?

Time and again we’ve found the process of making music together allows people to feel accepted. It breaks down barriers rather than reinforcing them.?

Years ago, while running a VIP Recording Studio experience with the senior partners of a major US consulting firm, the first 15 mins were crackling with sullen resistance and ‘I’ve got much more important things to do’ vibes from two of the 10 guys in the room. Cue lots of watch-checking and sour faces.?

But they trusted the process, they had to!?

4 hours later, we’d overshot our studio time by a generous margin, and we literally had to push them out the door.?

We’d argue that each of them saw and appreciated each other that afternoon, but in a totally new way.

Our insight? As leaders, it’s important to nudge, cajole, encourage and expose employees to new experiences that can help them grow.??

Yes, psychological safety is vital, but it doesn’t diminish their capacity to change.?

Allowing people to feel accepted for who they are often gives them the space – and permission – to show up differently.?

We know because we’ve witnessed it hundreds of times at our events all over the world.

If, like us, you’re excited to explore the power and importance of belonging, this Playbook is a treasure trove for event planners and live community creators. It’s positioned as A Belonging-Centered Guide for Experience-Design. Just search for Belonging Playbook. You won’t be disappointed.

If you too have a restlessness for bettering your company culture, read on to see if we’re a good fit.?Or DM us on LinkedIn for a quick chat or to book a discovery call.

We’ll be back soon with our final takeaways from our time in Las Vegas. For more insights like this, dip into our monthly newsletter. Sign up here.

Who are you? You lead or advise on company culture, employee engagement and retention. Your organization already invests in cultivating a positive workplace and now you’re on the hunt for fresh approaches to further energize and unite your teams. Your leadership knows that without innovation, your organization’s competitive advantage will fade away, so you’re determined to foster the conditions that spark creativity, lead to innovation, build psychological safety and forge belonging.

Who are we? SongDivision. We use the scientifically proven power of making music together to bond teams and amplify your culture. There’s a reason humans all over the world have used music to tell stories, entertain and educate for thousands of years. Because it works!

Megan Henshall Storycraft Lab Naomi Clare Crellin David Allison ????? ?? The Valuegraphics Research Company

Andy Sharpe Marsha Fahir John Lombardo Dave Goodison Benji Harris Leigh Houison MiG Ayesa Angus Clark Jodi Katz Sam McNeill Bec Quinn Amber Prothero Saskia Carr Christo Alexander Katy Aldrich Juliane Di Sisto Monica Dolso

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