6 Simple Ways to Build a Genuine Connection with Your Team

Aug 18

The difference between having a good team and a great team is having a genuine connection with them. When you can have a genuine connection with your team it benefits the business as a whole.

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The Benefit Of Making Genuine Connection

Improves work output
Work satisfaction increases
Improved trust and communication

When you are able to make a genuine connection with your team the whole workplace will benefit. The work satisfaction of employees will increase as they have a sense of belonging and feel as though they are cared about. Subsequently, work output will improve as the employee feels a more personal connection to their work. Trust and communication will be better when there are genuine connections with your team because they will be more comfortable with you.

What Most People Are Doing

Building a genuine connection starts as soon as you meet someone. Where most managers go wrong in this process is being too interested in themselves instead of the team member. People are so caught up in themselves that they are not listening to the other person.

Ask yourself this: when you meet someone new are you interested in learning about them or are you more focused on their perception of you?

Most people fall into the category of being interested in the person's perception of themselves. This results in worrying about what the other person is thinking and therefore you are disengaged from the actual conversation. Changing your approach on this front can have a world of a difference!

How to Be More Genuine

If you are curious about how to be more interested in your employees and less interested in yourself, that is the first step to forming more genuine relationships. Focusing on your employee and taking an interest in what they have to say will lead to a more fulfilling work environment for both of you.

Focus on the employee

Try to quiet the worries in your head and focus on the other person. What are they saying to you? What are they talking about? Focus on the other person and not yourself. The other person can usually pick up if someone is disengaged.

Take an interest in the employee

Take an interest in your employee, feel free to ask them questions. How was their weekend? Did they do anything exciting? What do they enjoy doing outside of work?

Taking a genuine interest in your employees is a small step that has a big impact.

Find out more about them

As small as it may seem, ask your employees questions to get to know them better. Where are they from? Something as simple as finding out where someone is from can build a genuine connection because you can then take a further interest or bond over common ground. Build on the information you find out, this will demonstrate not only that you care but that you are listening.

Find out what’s new

Take an interest regularly with your employees. Finding out what they are up to or what is new is a great way to show interest in your employees in a way that will make them feel validated. It can be as simple as asking ‘what have you been up to?’, ‘what’s new with you?’.

Find common ground

Finding common ground with your employees is a great way to build that connection. Maybe you both love a sports team, maybe you are from the same hometown. Making an effort to find common ground with your employees will go a long way in forming a genuine connection.

Be genuine

People can tell when you are listening or not listening. If you are pretending to care but not listening, the employee will be able to see through this. Be genuinely interested in your employees, and follow up on the information they share with you. Ask questions you are genuinely interested in knowing the answer to.

Conclusion:

Forming genuine connections with your team members will have great benefits for the company. Doing very small and simple steps such as asking where someone is from or what’s new in life can have a big impact. Employees want to feel validated and they want to feel cared for. No employee wants to feel like their manager hardly knows their name. The most important thing to remember when taking these steps is to be genuine. Taking a genuine interest will make the employee feel special and cared for.