The Power of Ritual for Work Teams

Research shows that team-building rituals can fortify bonds between colleagues and create a shared sense of purpose. After two years of COVID-19 upheaval, this is more important than ever before. Learn about why rituals are so important and how you can help your team develop their own.

Adapting to Change

Over the past two years, the pandemic has changed the way that work environments function. The adoption of asynchronous virtual offices has broken the routine that many have been previously used to. Not only has this affected the work environment, but it has changed the way our personal life has functioned as well.

After over two years of social distancing and self-isolation, our surroundings are beginning to open up again, allowing us to pick up on things we had left off before the pandemic. Whether it is returning to rituals with friends \ or dining at one of your favourite restaurants, we are adjusting to familiar patterns in our day-to-day lives.

Discovering New Habits

Whether working in a hybrid or remote work setting, one of the most important things that has been lost during the COVID-19 pandemic is daily rituals that provide time and space for human connection — from grabbing a morning coffee with work colleagues to sharing lunch together as a team on Fridays.

As we adjust to our new world of work, it is essential to make time to be intentional about how we create moments of connection for our employee teams. You can no longer rely on colleagues bumping into each other at the water cooler.

What exactly is the importance of ritual? Workplace rituals act as a source of team camaraderie that allows workplaces to create stronger bonds and as a result, lead to stronger, more productive teams.

Unique Team Rituals

From listening to a special pump-up song in the locker room to doing a team cheer, sports teams use rituals to boost morale and create a shared sense of belonging.

During a time of continuous changes, rituals can be an excellent source of connection building and retainment of team members.

One of the keys to a successful ritual is not to overthink the action but create a starting point and allow the team to find the best one naturally. Whether it is a high-five or sharing a word that describes your mood, these answers and results can create strategic answers for you and the team to better understand each other.  

Creating Rituals within Workspaces

In order to create an effective ritual within the workspaces, it’s important for the managers or team members to understand each other and create a comfortable environment. Remember never to force things and follow some of these recommended steps:

Watch and Observe: Interact and take note of the personalities within the team and figure out the things that each member enjoys. This will be a starting point for creating a strong ritual that everyone can enjoy and agree to terms with. As an observer, try to pay attention to the team dynamics. You may notice a ritual that is already in place. If you pick up on the small cues, use this opportunity to create, build, and improve on anything you notice!

Opportunity: Most importantly, there must be an opportunity to create the ritual. Remain open-minded and allow team members to develop rituals. Improving on what is already there naturally will create meaningful and long-lasting rituals for everybody to practice. Team members may have ridiculous or silly ritual ideas in place but those may be the best ones for bonding!