Want to Build a Better Work Team? Begin With the Power of Belonging

A sense of belonging is what makes teams thrive. 

Even in the hard-nosed world of work, belonging is a team’s superpower. Or at least it can be.  

I know that because I’ve been coaching and training teams, across organizations of all types and sizes, for more than 15 years. We focus our efforts not on the individuals in the team but on how the team works together—or what I call their “team habits.”  

Team habits are the recurring practices and behaviors that determine how a team functions on a day-to-day basis. They shape a team’s culture, as well as their ability to be agile, cohesive, and productive—all must-have skills in the new workplace. In relation to your own team, think about things like how you make decisions, how you conduct meetings, and how communication flows between everyone in the team. 

Over time, I’ve come to identify eight different categories of team habits. But, as I tell my clients, no category is more important than the category of belonging. 

The glue of belonging 

Belonging is what turns a group of people into a team. Skeptical? Stay with me.

A group is a collection of individuals. You and I could be part of a group yet not have a genuine sense of belonging. Even if everyone in the group is working toward the same goal, we’re not inevitably aligned around how to achieve that goal. That’s because we lack the strong directional relationship needed to work together effectively. 

A team, on the other hand, is a group that is highly aligned. Members share a sense of purpose, and are guided toward something bigger, beyond just being in the relationship. That shared context, imbued with the glue of belonging, is what causes a team to thrive. 

But belonging is fragile. It can be created—or cracked apart—by the daily habits of a team. 

How to create a sense of belonging

High-belonging teams are easy to spot. They stick together. They meet targets and goals. They have hard conversations. They don’t take things personally. And much more. 

To create a sense of belonging in your own team, consider these three tips to start. 

1. Kick off team meetings by sharing non-work wins.
   Before you get down to business, go around the table (or Zoom call) and have each person on the team briefly share a recent personal accomplishment or a life event that brought them joy. And do that at every meeting.
   That team habit sets a light, positive tone for meetings. It also creates a feeling of community, and helps team members see each other as whole human beings rather than as just work colleagues.
2. Call out bumps before they become interpersonal conflicts.
   When not working remotely, you probably work in close quarters with your team, and are accustomed to moving around quickly and literally bumping into each other by accident. No big deal, right? And the bumps certainly aren’t personal.
   But bumps happen figuratively, too. Maybe a teammate forgot to include you on a project email thread. Or someone continues to save team documents in the wrong file structure. Those kinds of bumps are just part of the job, and they’re usually innocent mistakes. Call them out openly and with grace. Call them out in real time (not, hint-hint, days or weeks later). And call them out as something to solve together, rather than as personal affronts.
   That team habit is critical, as it focuses members on uniting around collegial and collective problem-solving, with no individual blaming or shaming.
3. Use weak ties to build strong bonds.
   Not every interaction with team members has to be profound or deeply personal to be impactful. Lighthearted interactions like impromptu casual chats can serve to strengthen the sense of belonging over time. I call those “weak ties.” Perhaps you discover that you are both dog lovers. Or are news junkies. Or are all-things Marvel aficionados. Or are in book clubs.
   Now, are any of those things a particularly strong reason to bond? Probably not. But the more that team members connect with one another, the more that such collections of weak ties are likely to grow.
   That team habit builds familiarity and trust among teammates, boosts engagement and commitment, and improves collaboration and communication. It also helps team members feel more freedom to ideate, create, and innovate.

More than feel-good exercises

It’s easy to wax poetic about the power of belonging. It’s hard, however, to make conscious choices to continually cultivate it. And don’t be fooled: The team habits discussed above aren’t feel-good exercises. They are deliberate actions that can foster a sense of belonging in your team and cause you to thrive. 

So why not make belonging your team’s superpower? It won’t happen overnight, but your energy and effort will be well worth it.

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