- Research shows that a strong sense of community at work improves performance, reduces turnover risk, and results in fewer sick days.
- We can all do our part to build a sense of community with small but effective gestures: asking the right questions regularly, prioritizing praise and recognition, and creating shared lists of interests.
- In this article, entrepreneur, speaker, and Optimist Instructor Rachel Drunkenmiller, who specializes in assisting organizations find purpose and build strong cultures, provides expert tips.
Amid our daily tasks, back-to-back meetings, urgent emails, and ever-growing to-do lists, it’s all too tempting to believe there aren’t enough hours in the day to think about bigger things like fostering a sense of community at work. (After all, isn’t that HR’s job?)
But research suggests that prioritizing a sense of community at work is well worth our time.
A study by Deloitte found that those who experience a strong sense of belonging enjoy a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% reduction in turnover risk, and a 75% decrease in sick days. What’s more, research published in the Academy of Management Journal found that stronger work communities are hotbeds for the type of workplace connections that result in promotions and stronger emotional support, while fulfilling a very human desire to serve and give back to others.
While building a community is, of course, a group effort, there’s a lot we can do individually to help. According to Optimist Instructor Rachel Druckenmiller—an entrepreneur, speaker, and consultant who teaches a class in The Optimism Library called “The 3 Keys to Effective Employee Engagement”—you don’t have to go as far as asking your team to run a marathon together, join a book club, or perform trust falls.
You can try three simple things.
1. Create a Shared List of Interests
“Here’s a fun thing I advise all teams to do: Create a list called ‘Our Favorite Things,’ and invite people to fill it out,” says Druckenmiller.
The things can range from serious to silly—personal passions, exercise routines, comic-book movies, go-to snacks, coffee orders, television shows, and restaurants.
Once completed, everyone will have the opportunity to get to know their coworkers better. What’s more, it can inspire thoughtful gestures.
“It’s just this beautiful way to connect,” says Druckenmiller. “And it doesn’t have to just be peer-to-peer, either. It can be boss-to-direct reports, or from one department to another. Anybody in the organization can acknowledge and be inclusive towards somebody else.”
2. Ask These Two Golden Questions
Druckenmiller singles out exactly two questions that can significantly impact how supported and valued your team members feel:
- “How can I best support you right now?”
- “Is there anything you need to do your job better?”
While these may sound like questions best asked in a yearly review, she advises you to ask these questions regularly. They show a genuine interest in each employee’s well-being and professional needs. They also reflect a curiosity that, as Simon points out, “is core to empathy and all interpersonal interactions within the workplace.”
3. Repeat After Us: “Praise, Praise, Praise”
“It’s a fact: There are five-and-a-half times more praise and recognition than there is critiquing on high-performing teams,” says Druckenmiller. “On low performing teams, it’s inverted. There are three times as much criticism and critiquing as there is praise.”
Yes, recognizing people matters. “It’s about making sure that we’re focusing on appreciating what is good, and calling out what is good, and not waiting till someone’s on their way out the door to tell them why we value them,” says Druckenmiller.
At the end of the day, she says, it’s a preponderance of small stuff that can turn a mundane office into a thriving community.
For more, check out The Optimism Library
