Building Team Connections

Ever wonder why some teams click instantly while others remain disconnected despite years of working together? The secret might be simpler than you think.

Leadership isn't just about directing work—it's about creating the conditions for meaningful human connection. When team members discover who their colleagues really are beyond job titles and tasks, something remarkable happens: conflict decreases and collaboration flourishes naturally. This transformation begins with structured opportunities for teammates to learn about each other through guided conversations.

The power of rotating peer-to-peer conversations cannot be overstated. While some might initially dismiss these activities as "corny," the results speak for themselves. Through a simple four-week framework focusing on context, commonality, collaboration styles, and conflict approaches, teams develop deeper understanding and appreciation for each other. These conversations—just 20 minutes weekly—create the neural bridges that transform how people work together.

There's profound wisdom in recognizing that "when there's connection, there will be less conflict." Conversely, "when we are only focused on the work, the relationships will feel like work." By implementing structured connection opportunities and regularly switching conversation partners, leaders create an environment where the "fiber of the team will exponentially improve." These aren't just feel-good activities—they're strategic investments in team performance.

Want to transform your team dynamics? Start with these rotating peer-to-peer conversations and watch how quickly mutual understanding replaces unnecessary friction. Your team's collaborative potential is directly linked to how well members understand each other as people, not just as colleagues.

Welcome to Coaching Conversations

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Chapters

• 0:00 Facilitating Team Conversations
• 1:33 Context Creates Better Collaboration
• 1:58 Leading Connection Activities
• 2:51 Rotating Peer-to-Peer Conversation Framework

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:37

I think one of the best things that we can do as leaders is to facilitate conversations with our people, not just the leader directly, but facilitate conversations between teammates. You know a lot of our clients and I shouldn't say a lot. Some will pull me aside and say, tim, this is kind of corny and I go. It is. But it's amazing what happens between people when they find out about each other, their favorite vacation spots, what they have in common. See, when you have context and commonality, you will have less conflict with that person. You will have greater collaboration with that person. Now I've done it almost four or five times in probably the last year where I'll lead a session, pair up with somebody. Find out who they are, their favorite vacation spot, favorite sports team, then I move on to commonality. You got to find out two things that you have in common with that person. That forces something very fundamentally simple that we don't do very well we have to ask questions and really listen, and I say you know you might be asked to stand up and introduce your partner. It's amazing, it just triggers them to pay attention.

Speaker 1: 1:51

So when we do that everybody, what it does is it facilitates connection between people. When there's connection. There will be less conflict when we are only focused on the work. The relationships will feel like work, because the only thing we have between each other is work. So, as a leader, think about doing something that we call rotating peer-to-peer conversations. Rotating peer-to-peer conversations it will serve your team so incredibly well. Week one focus on context 20 minutes. Week two commonality. Week three how do you like to collaborate and work with people? Week four what's your relationship with conflict? And then switch partners. Starting the next month, the fiber of the team will exponentially, exponentially improve.