After pandemic disruptions, your team might feel out of touch. Here are 3 simple but effective ways to reconnect

By Katherine Lewis

Throughout the pandemic, executive leaders made a concerted effort to create connections among their team members. However, as remote work has lessened and pandemic restrictions are loosening, the mistake I’ve seen some leaders make is thinking that the level of connection people had before all of this started will simply go back to the way it was. 

But that just isn’t so. Besides forming connections from scratch with all the newbies, teams are finding that they have to rebuild a sense of connection among people who have grown apart due to distance, time and lack of natural interactions. It’s like driving a well-traveled highway loop around the city and finding the last piece unexpectedly missing; you can’t get where you’re going until the missing part is rebuilt. 

I was struck by this recently while leading a team effectiveness session for a department of more than 20 senior level executives at a mission-driven institution. They hadn’t been in the same room together in two years. And though they had been on Zoom calls over that period, they hadn’t had time to connect in an informal, organic way. They couldn’t stop talking to one another, even when I tried to call the meeting to order. When I did sessions like this prior to the pandemic, I hadn’t had this experience of people not being able to tear themselves away from their chat. They were so thrilled just to re-engage. 

While it’s easier to realize how a newly hired remote workforce might not exactly gel with in-person colleagues right away, it can be harder to spot the lack of connection among longtime coworkers. At this moment, we need to be intentional about creating structured experiences for our teams that have re-connection as a byproduct. The efforts don’t have to be done solely in person; they can be virtual as well. But they do have to involve a concerted effort to make the informal more formal. And they are best done by creating chances for people to connect one-on-one. 

Here are three ways to help your employees reconnect. 

1.     Set up opportunities for peer coaching.

This is similar to the “feed forward” approach from Marshall Goldsmith, a method of focusing on suggestions for improving in the future, rather than giving critical feedback about what hasn’t worked in the past. Peer coaching is less structured and more of a continual back and forth, where one person starts by talking about an area they want to improve, then the other asks open-ended questions, along the lines of “what” and “how.” Each person needs to keep a very open mind and commit to an action step when finished. Bonus points for adding a follow up accountability action.

Remember that the end result needn’t be about, well, results. When I did a related “feed forward” exercise for a team recently, I was struck by how much people enjoyed it, and even requested more than the standard number of rounds. Why? Not because they got a ton of great ideas (though ideally, they did). But simply because they felt connected to each other in a way they hadn’t in a very long time. 

2. Take a psychometric assessment and then debrief.

Have your team do a psychometric assessment like Birkman, Hogan or DiSC and use the opportunity to debrief each other. Most executive teams either haven’t taken such an assessment or haven’t done so in years. Keeping up to date on assessments can provide valuable information on how teams can best work together, but for this exercise, it’s more about forging bonds. Each pair should ask one another: What did you learn from it? What surprised you? What do you want to work on moving forward?  Be honest, listen and take turns. You’ll be surprised at what resonates. 

3. Make time for authentic listening.

Has your team learned about the importance of ostentatious listening? Google’s landmark study of team effectiveness, Project Aristotle, found that its strongest teams scored highly on active listening. To practice this, have co-workers break into pairs and bring to the table a challenge they are facing at work. While one person speaks, the other needs to pay close attention while making eye contact, listening not to respond, but to understand. Notice the speaker’s body language, facial expressions and intended meaning. Then repeat back what was said. “I am hearing you say that…” This is one of the most purposeful ways to build a fuller connection between colleagues.  

Bottom line: We are all craving connection and re-connection right now. We just have to be intentional about making it happen.

Let me help your team with the ongoing work of becoming better, stronger, closer. Contact me at katherine@lewisrushassociates.com.