Being part of any team means working together; that takes mutual trust, cooperation and understanding. But you can’t achieve any of those if you don’t know the other person. If you can cold call leads to convince them to become your clients, then striking up a friendship with someone else in your office will be a piece of cake. If you aren’t going to try to get to know your teammates, why bother joining a team in the first place?
You can connect over business or personal matters, both in and out of the office.
Larry Rideout, chairman and co-owner of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, agrees, and has some specific ideas about ways to foster connection with your teammates.
In the office
Connecting with your teammates in the office is the most natural way to go about it; you’re both in the same place and have the connection of work, so you won’t be fishing for a conversation starter. On the other hand, the fact that you’re at work means that you should avoid making the conversation feel like a distraction.
Rideout’s suggestions for in-office connections are oriented around business conversations: “Attend meetings, share new business and discuss strategies about pricing, marketing, etc.” Follow this route and you might make not just a new friend, but get some sound advice for your own work, too.
Out of the office
Taking connection to the next level is talking to your teammates outside the office. If you’re hitting it off with a teammate in the office, maybe invite them out to a friendly meal. You could even find a common recreational interest you share and try to connect over that. Real estate is a 24/7 job, but this is a great opportunity to take the relationship from professional to personal.
Rideout also has some group activity suggestions: “Attend networking events, office meet and greets, and ‘Thirsty Thursdays’ with your teammates.” Don’t just work as a team, enjoy yourselves as a team.
Bonding in the age of remote work
The elephant in the room here is remote work. If you barely ever go into the office or meet your teammates in person, trying to connect with them can seem like a low priority. However, this just means you have to put extra effort in. If you’re the first one on the team to take initiative, all the better—your teammates will remember that.
Rideout says team professionals can even spin remote work into remote team gatherings: “Schedule Zoom calls to discuss present market conditions and challenges you are facing or to share real estate industry trends or challenges.”
