Building connectedness is one of the 15 Future Fit Academy Skills that are essential for advancing your competence and relevance in the future of work. In fact, establishing relationships is the cornerstone of success in the workplace.
We describe building connectedness as the act of joining or linking. Connection is important in all aspects of humankind whether it is family, social, or work. Building connectedness establishes a work culture for success.
Having connectedness at work does not only mean everyone feels like a big family. It means employees can relate to somebody else’s perspectives or values. With improved relationships comes improved thinking which in turn leads to a better quality of actions followed by better results.
Strong relationships only exist with connection, and in the workplace, we call this building connectedness.
Keep reading to learn how building connectedness can help individuals reach their highest potential.
Building Connectedness In A Fast-Moving World
The goal of having a connected work environment is to help relate to others in a way that builds them up, encourages them, and brings out their highest potential.
Connectedness is a leadership trait associated with building and sustaining relationships. Moreover, becoming a great communicator is a process that starts with becoming a great connector. Learning to connect will improve relationships, boost personal success, and allow people to become better leaders.
We live in a fast-moving world and are often so busy communicating what we must do that we tend to forget our humanness. However, it is more important to establish a connection than it is to simply communicate.
Building connectedness is the precursor to effective communication and if you connect well, your communication will flow from a completely different place. We see now how important this skill is because it is human to need connection and isolating over time brought this to light.
Uplifting Others For Co-Creation
For us to successfully work together and achieve connectedness, we need to boost the esteem of others.
A connected leader is always seeking ways to help others develop, both personally and professionally. Mentoring and coaching are examples of how leaders can boost that connectedness.
If you are a leader like this, then you will do your best to care for and support those around you. Your support and encouragement will help others prosper which means you can also manage tough conversations, and challenging situations and provide difficult feedback in a caring and supportive way.
5 Effective Skills Leaders Can Re-Establish Connections
Business leaders must focus on strengthening five skills to start building connectedness with teams, managers, and the organization. Weak connections to one or more of these will damage the employee experience.
So, here is how to strengthen each of these connections.
At FutureFit Academy we believe there are two components to building connectedness.
- Connection to Self.
- Connection to Others.
1. Connection To Self
It is easy to lose sight of our inner selves when we lose ourselves in the daily hustle of life. We might be sorely missing the connection to ourselves without knowing what it is and what it means for us.
However, building connectedness within the practice of self-connection is a combination of insights, concepts, and skills that help you to access personal resources of awareness, wisdom, choice, and trust to transform your experience.
People often make the mistake of defining themselves by their weight, financial status, children, achievements, jobs, etc. However, you can accomplish connection with yourself by completing impressive to-do lists. It does not mean everything is suddenly OK.
In fact, external outcomes or the good opinion of others is temporary, conditional, and not a solid basis for the self.
The key to building connectedness to self is by living from within yourself and not seeking to find yourself without. Knowing you need to return home to the life energy inside and make choices that express and manifest your unique self.
The 3 Stages Of Self Connection Are:
1. Acknowledgement: Learning to accept yourself for who you are.
2. Awareness: The experience you have, without relating it to you as a person.
3. Action: Make choices rooted in yourself to create experiences you genuinely want and need.
First, acknowledge yourself before acting or making judgments. With this foundation in place, you will be able, to be honest about your shortcomings and need for growth.
Thereafter, you can find greater resilience in life because the focus is no longer on maintaining a fixed view of yourself but on the learning and growing process.
2. Connection To Others
When building connectedness with others, we must go beyond having an enjoyable conversation with them.
Here Are Three Key Areas To Connect With Others:
1. Your values: A common set of beliefs.
2. Your vision: A common future or desire to work towards.
3. Your Venture: A common desire to do work that builds on the values and achieves the vision.
True connection can happen without words and with someone, we do not even know. However, there is no guarantee that building connectedness with somebody we work with every day will happen.
There are seven pillars to establishing a connection. Here they are below, hopefully, they will help you.
1. Be Genuine: Only the connections you genuinely care about will work.
2. Provide Massive Help: Sometimes even a small gesture can make an enormous difference to someone.
3. Pay Ridiculous Attention: Do your research and learn everything you can to help you connect.
4. Connect With People Close To Them: Spend quality time on networking.
5. Persistence Wins Most Battles: Sometimes it takes time to develop a true connection.
6. Make Real Friends: Real connections have the same depth of relationship as our friendships.
7. Remain Unforgettable: How you stay in touch can reinforce the connection.
3. Connecting Employees To Teams
Business leaders who concentrate on building connectedness know to create a smarter network which in return helps the leader to be more effective.
This means finding ways to expand and deepen team ties, by providing opportunities for social connection and team building, especially across departments.
While social gatherings outside working hours are enjoyable, employees might find it uncomfortable to attend especially if they are working parents which may lead to further isolation and social fragmentation. That is why activities must happen during normal working hours.
We also recommend encouraging peer-to-peer recognition and fostering a culture where employees connect by accomplishment and celebrate each other regularly.
Learn more about company culture and connection in our courses.
Doing this will create a deep sense of belonging and loyalty amongst employees where everyone can bring their truest selves to work. Celebrated diversity is key to building connectedness.
4. Connecting Employees To Leaders
Building connectedness with your team members is essential, but to strengthen it leaders must put time and effort into getting to know them.
It is good to find one on one time where you find out how team members are feeling or time for appreciation, mentorship, and relationship building. You can do this in person or virtually.
We recommend giving regular recognition for employee contributions. A simple thank you or acknowledgment builds connectedness between employees and leaders at all levels.
Lastly, compassionate leadership is better than leaders who lead with authority and control. Acting like a mentor rather than a boss helps people grow and employees will feel valued and appreciated.
Rather than boosting their own ego and hierarchical rank, these leaders advocate for their teams to develop and excel which is four times more likely to have an aspirational level of connection with their people.
5. Connecting Employees To The Organization
Here, business leaders want to strengthen employee connectedness to the organizational purpose.
Therefore, your business must have a simple and inspirational organizational purpose and link employees’ work to this purpose.
This makes it clear how their work is part of the bigger picture. It is also important to empower employees to make decisions and feel part of the organization’s achievements.
Building connectedness means celebrating the wins together. Whether it is a company landmark, a sales achievement, or a product launch, bringing people together in celebration allows them to see how they have contributed to that success.
Besides, employees who connect to purpose are 20 times more likely to have an aspirational connection to their organization.
Connection Comes First
To conclude, we must emphasize the importance of connection coming before anything else.
Feeling disconnected and socially fragmented can severely threaten the foundation of teams, culture, and organizational purpose.
Employees must feel connected to their teams, leader, and organizational purpose for an organization to thrive.
To make building connectedness a priority as a business leader, you should actively create opportunities for these crucial connections to be re-established.
Contact us to learn how.
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