Don't underestimate the power of personal connection in the workplace. Knowing a coworker well can make it easier to ask questions, gain insights into their motivations, and understand their work preferences. These bonds often form naturally among colleagues with similar expertise and skillsets.

“People who share a certain background, a common language, gravitate toward one another because it’s easier to communicate,” says Tiziana Casciaro, a professor of organizational behavior at the Rotman School of Management.

However, this can lead to company silos, where workers from different departments may choose not to connect due to a lack of common ground. When people without a prior connection are put on a project together, this unfamiliarity can make it more difficult to get the job done, Casciaro says.

The issue has become particularly pronounced in a hybrid or virtual environment. In an in-person setting, there are more opportunities for spontaneous connections, she says. If multiple teams from different departments share the same floor, they might strike up conversations in the lunchroom or hallway. But these spontaneous interactions happen less frequently when employees are largely hybrid or virtual.

“Team leaders have to be more deliberate about networking because you don’t have the luxury of serendipity anymore,” Casciaro says. “Leaders have to plan absolutely everything.”

As a result, planned gatherings have taken on a new level of importance. And, whether in-person or online, with just a few team members or the entire organization, Casciaro has a few tips on how to make the most of these meetups.

Understand the importance of networking

Workplaces are interdependent, and rarely do employees work truly autonomously. So at some point, most employees will have to interact with colleagues.

Knowledge about coworkers builds empathy, which Casciaro credits with building stronger teams. One study found that teams scoring high on empathy outperformed their peers.

“When they see how interdependent they are with their colleagues, employees are more willing to work with each other on what the company wants them to do,” she says. “Once they understand each other's role in the project, the last thing they’ll want to do is complicate each other's lives. They are actually going to enhance each other's work.”

And while interpersonal connections can be built in a virtual environment, in-person interactions provide a richer foundation for relationship building. These relationships carry into the online space, making virtual meetings and conversations easier and more productive.

So wherever possible, managers should encourage in-person networking opportunities, Casciaro says, and organizations need to make the best use of that time. Don’t expect people to build relationships while sitting silently through a virtual meeting, with their cameras turned off!

Give people a reason to show up

That means it’s time for managers to banish boring town halls and uninspiring retreats. Whether gatherings are online or in-person, employees need a reason to attend, Casciaro says. This might take the form of fun and poignant team-building exercises that give employees a window into their colleagues as people. or engaging workshops that help employee develop useful skills and feel a sense of progress.

Crucially, networking opportunities need to energize. “You have to inject a little bit of excitement, a little bit of fire,” Casciaro says. “If you are super restrained and monotone in your delivery when you run these gatherings, they won’t work. You need to have a bit of flair, and if you don’t have that yourself, enlist somebody who does to run the show, as it were.”

For employees that still resist getting together in person, communicate the personal benefits of these gatherings, such as opportunities for mentoring from senior colleagues, visibility with potential teammates, and knowledge sharing for skill growth.

And remember, engaging experiences encourage future attendance.  

“You want to create an interesting, compelling opportunity that justifies the schlep to the workplace,” Casciaro says.

Encourage personal connections

The goal of intracompany networking opportunities is to foster connections between people who might not otherwise interact, Casciaro says.

“Put together an activity, an exercise, an icebreaker, or any combination of those things,” she says. “You can Google, ‘icebreakers for teams’ or ‘exercises for team building,’ and you’ll get a list of ideas. They seem so silly, but they work.”

(She adds that these activities during virtual gatherings can be just as effective at building personal connections among employees.)

One of Casciaro’s go-to icebreakers is to pair two employees from different departments and have them find as many things in common as they can within two minutes. If you dare go deeper, bonding exercises that require vulnerability — such as sharing a personal struggle or something that has defined the individual’s life — can also powerfully create connections across departments, she says.

“If I know that you and I share something, our relationship changes,” she says. “Now I know I can fall back on something that makes you more trustworthy in my eyes, more likeable in my eyes. I kind of relax with you a bit more.”

Embrace formal and informal

Finally, Casciaro says organizations should bake in both formal and informal elements to networking events.

Icebreakers might be seen as informal — a way for employees to help connect with and understand each other better. For example, a worker may reveal she prefers looking at “the big picture” rather than the smaller details, which helps their colleagues understand her working style. Pair this with formal discussions about company’s goals, each team’s role in the organization, and how teams can accomplish those goals together. 

“The best team-building opportunities require both an understanding of the work that we’re trying to perform, the rationale for it — and an understanding of the people, and who they are, why they behave the way they do, and why they are more similar to us that it might appear at first” Casciaro says.