Every business has an obligation to ensure that they’re constantly meeting good people. This may be future employees or those who in future may be able to make referrals. We’ve all heard it before, we’re living in a ‘networked age’ therefore the importance of both cultivating and maintaining our networks is more important than ever before.

Being well connected and having access to great people is one thing. However, in today’s world there’s a growing need for something else, something which can’t be acquired or bought in.

What’s that? It’s the need for to create space for conversations and connection in the workplace.

Conversations

Each year millions is spent on team building, away days and whole multitude of different activities which are intended to bring staff closer together.

Yet what seems to strike most people is that concerns or issues they may have will essentially remain un-addressed. That leaves us in an awkward position, torn between a need to speak up whilst simultaneously being content not to ‘rock the bottom’ and cause further trouble, a perfect lose-lose situation.

So what can we do? Most importantly where can we begin?

Checking In

We’re all busy, there are competing demands upon our time constantly. Yet there’s something we can start, and that’s taking time for conversations. I’m not suggesting the need for anyone to launch into extended monologues on their life story. Instead, what I’m speaking of is taking time to ‘check in’ within a non-pressurised or target driven way.

Telling Stories

Organisations are made up of people. Each having their own unique story, background and range of experiences. It’s widely accepted that within this diversity exists a strength, a strength which increases an organisations ability to adapt to its environment. What’s interesting is the number of these stories which our never heard.

We’ve worked with countless organisations and it’s been fascinating to observe the impact of creating meetings with one simple point – provide a member of staff a chance to share their life experience on a particular topic, ideally non-work related. Why is this so powerful? Because by sharing our own life experience what we’re actually encouraging is vulnerability

3rd Party Facilitation

Good conversations in the working environment are not all about forcing anyone to anything they’re uncomfortable with. However, never under estimate the power of someone neutral and totally unconnected to your organisation. This is the power of facilitators, those trained specifically to help guide conversations both within and outside organisations. This is most powerful when having to tackle specific challenges or periods of change. What a facilitator can ensure is that everyone’s voice is heard, regardless of the ‘volume’ and that conversations have tangible outcomes from which you can continue to build upon.

Language aside, what we’re actually talking about hers creating the space from which we can relate to one another within the workplace. This isn’t a call for us to become best friends, or even to start socialising outside the confines of our workplaces, no. Instead this is a call for more space, more opportunity to address the issues that matter to us and effect our well-being.

This can’t be forced, this can’t be coerced, but what we can do is create the space for this to happen.