Strategies to Foster Team Belonging

Where you sit in the org chart doesn’t matter. Where you show up for the team does. Teamship shows up as these 7 things: 1. Shared ownership of results: Teamship replaces “that’s not my role” with shared responsibility for outcomes. When teams co-own success and failure, silos collapse and alignment becomes continuous, even when there are tough times and challenges. 2. Candor as care: Under Teamship, withholding truth is riskier than speaking up. Co-elevation means saying, “I care enough about you and the mission to say what needs to be said,”  early and directly, so no one fails alone. 3. Peer-to-peer accountability: Accountability stops flowing only downward. Teammates hold one another to commitments through regular check-ins, sprint reviews, and shared goals. 4. Collective resilience: In strong teams, energy, focus, and well-being are owned together. Teammates actively lift one another up during pressure, change, uncertainty, and all kinds of challenges.  5. Co-creation over competition: Teamship replaces internal competition with broader co-creation. Ideas improve because more voices are invited in, meetings shift from reporting to building, and innovation becomes bolder and more inclusive.  6. Abundant recognition: Recognition no longer depends on hierarchy or scarce praise. Teams normalize celebrating effort, progress, and contribution.  7. Belonging through contribution: True belonging is created when every person has a voice in shaping the future and feels responsible for the success of others. These same principles transform families, schools, nonprofits, faith communities, and friendships.

Recently a colleague asked me, “Laura, how are you able to get a group of complete strangers to bond so quickly?” It made me pause and reflect on my approach. Creating a strong bond among individuals is rooted in fostering psychological safety, shared experiences, and vulnerability. Here are some strategies I employ: 1. Establish a Shared Purpose Early On: - Define the group's purpose clearly. - Focus on the intention behind the gathering, promoting authenticity over perfection. 2. Initiate Vulnerability-Based Icebreakers: - Dive beyond surface-level introductions by asking meaningful questions: - "What's a personal achievement you're proud of but haven't shared with the group?" - "What challenge are you currently facing, big or small?" - "What truly motivated you to join us today?" These questions encourage genuine connections by fostering openness and humanity. 3. Engage in Unconventional Activities Together: - Bond through unique experiences such as: - Light physical activities (get outside and take a walk) or team challenges. - Creative endeavors like collaborative projects or improvisation. - Reflective exercises such as guided meditations followed by group reflections. 4. Facilitate "Small Circle" Conversations: - Encourage deeper discussions in smaller groups before sharing insights with the larger group. - Smaller settings often lead to increased comfort, paving the way for more profound interactions in larger settings. 5. Normalize Authentic Communication: - Lead by example as a facilitator or leader by sharing genuine and unexpected thoughts. - Setting the tone for open dialogue encourages others to follow suit. 6. Highlight Common Ground: - Acknowledge shared themes and experiences after individual shares. - Recognize patterns like shared pressures, transitions, or identity struggles to unify the group. 7. Incorporate Group Rituals: - Commence or conclude sessions with grounding rituals like breathwork, gratitude circles, one on one share. In what ways have you been able to create cohesion quickly amongst a group of individuals in a training session? #fasttracktotrust #humanconnection #facilitatedconnection

You're pushing for better productivity, but you're missing the foundation that makes everything else Belonging. When people feel they truly belong, productivity follows naturally. Here's why: People are far more generous with their time, energy, and creativity toward those who actually know and value them. When someone feels seen beyond their role, they stop seeing their contribution as a transaction and start treating it as an investment. Your board members show up prepared. Your staff moves on to the next thing without being asked. Your volunteers stick around for years. But when people feel like just another set of hands - like they're easily replaceable, they give you the bare minimum. They disengage. When belonging is missing, even the best systems fail. After 30+ years in the nonprofit sector, here's what I've found creates belonging in nonprofit teams and boards: 1. Have one-on-one conversations with the goal of actually knowing people. Not just check-ins about deliverables. When someone feels seen beyond their job description, they bring more of themselves to the table. 2. Include people in decisions that affect their work. Not every budget line item, but the program changes that impact their daily reality. When your development coordinator has input on donor stewardship approaches, they own the results. 3. Acknowledge different perspectives openly. Your longtime board member brings institutional knowledge. Your newest staff person brings fresh ideas. Both matter. When you say that out loud, both contribute more. 4. Create space for people to contribute their unique strengths. Don't just assign the same committee roles year after year. Ask your quiet board member what energizes them. Let your detail-oriented volunteer tackle the project planning they love. The irony? When you stop pushing so hard for productivity and start building belonging, Productivity improves on its own. When people care about each other and the mission you're building, the outcomes naturally follow. Share this post with other nonprofit leaders who are ready to try a different approach to team performance. Follow Carrie Gray, D.B.A. for insights on leading high-performing nonprofit teams that actually want to be there. Check out my Breakthrough Bites for more on building teams that thrive, not just survive -> https://lnkd.in/eQJwg4Gt

🫂Micro Inclusions: Small Acts That Build Belonging🫂 Ever been the odd person out on a team? I have. Early in my career, I was on a team where everyone seemed to already know the inside jokes, the unspoken norms, and even where to sit in the meeting room. No one was unkind but no one really noticed I wasn’t quite part of the rhythm either. It was like showing up to a party where no one made room on the couch. 🛋️ That experience stuck with me and it reminds me just how important inclusion really is. Inclusion isn’t about grand gestures or company-wide events. It’s about small, consistent moments that say: “You matter here.” These are what I call micro inclusions - simple, intentional actions that make people feel seen, heard, and valued. And they matter. Teams with high inclusion levels have stronger trust, better collaboration, and yes - better results. When people don’t have to waste energy figuring out if they belong, they pour that energy into their work, their ideas, and their team. Want to build inclusion into your team culture? Start small. Try this: ✔️Rotate who runs meetings. Don’t let the same voices always lead. ✔️Use names in conversations. It seems tiny, but “Great idea, Jasmine” is 10x more powerful than “Yeah, that’s good.” ✔️Ask for input from quieter voices. “Alex, we haven’t heard from you yet -any thoughts?” ✔️Acknowledge effort, not just outcomes. Especially when someone takes a risk or stretches outside their comfort zone. ✔️Be mindful of side conversations. If it’s not for everyone, it might make someone feel left out. These micro inclusions don’t take much time but over time, they build psychological safety, trust, and the kind of culture where people thrive. Because belonging isn’t built in big, rare moments. It’s built in the small ones. Over and over again. Found this helpful. ♻️Share with others. #QuickBitesofInsight #Leadership #Inclusion #TeamCulture #PsychologicalSafety #LearningAndDevelopment #MicroInclusions #BelongingAtWork

Belonging doesn’t happen by accident. You can have a friendly team, a solid project documentation doc, and still end up with a new hire who never quite finds their footing. Because feeling welcome isn’t the same as feeling like you belong. Belonging is about being seen, heard, and safe to show up fully. Belonging means the reciprocal trust of team members to spitball ideas, try things, and fully collaborate. Belonging means you won’t get called a “DEI hire” when you are the only women on the team or called lazy when you have to take your wife to chemo at 3pm. Belonging means you have healthy working relationships with your colleagues, and they give you the benefit of the doubt. If you’re a people leader - it’s your responsibility to create this environment. You set the tone for the culture of belonging on your team from the first day a new team member starts. Here are a few things I do to set the stage for belonging: 1. Make introductions personal. Not just names and roles—share interests, experience, and proud moments from their lives. 2. Share team norms explicitly. Onboarding a new hire is a great opportunity to verbally reinforce the cultural norms that are expected to to everyone. 3. Invite their voice early. Ask their opinion in meetings. Let them see their input matters before they feel “ready.” When people feel like they belong, they don’t just integrate faster—they contribute more confidently, collaborate more openly, and stick around longer. Your team is happier, is more likely to hit goals, and you; you earn the place of amazing leader that built the best team they ever worked on. ❤️

When I arrived at USPTO in 2018, I was greeted with something unforgettable: a welcome package, a personalized basket, a tour to meet every stakeholder, and even a team-wide pause for a warm “welcome party.” I had never felt so valued on day one. We took onboarding seriously. Every new hire had a “buddy” responsible for making sure these steps were covered before and during the first week: 1️⃣ Build a welcome basket using contributions from the team, our library, and donations. Bonus points for finding out the new employee’s interests and adding something personal. 2️⃣ Take the new employee on a tour to meet stakeholders, visit offices, and share lunch in the cafeteria to encourage quick socialization. 3️⃣ Coordinate a short, in-person welcoming party on the first day where everyone stopped to greet the newcomer. 4️⃣ Schedule longer introductory meetings during the first week with key stakeholders to build context and relationships. The impact went well beyond making people feel good. Research shows that personalized gestures such as welcome baskets increase trust and commitment. Structured socialization practices like tours and team welcomes reduce anxiety, build belonging, and accelerate role clarity. On top of that, buddy programs and early stakeholder meetings provide psychological safety and social capital. Furthermore, studies from Microsoft and Gartner found that employees with a buddy were more productive and more likely to stay, and other research has shown that early supportive interactions predict higher performance and long-term commitment. The results in our office spoke for themselves. We saw virtually zero turnover, had a waiting list of internal employees eager to join, and filled nearly every open position internally through promotions or cross-moves. The culture was so strong that even when I eventually accepted another opportunity, it took a significant offer and a month of persuasion to make me leave. To this day (and no disrespect to my other employers) it's one of those decisions I revisit often and say "what if." Making people feel truly welcomed is not fluff. It is a strategy that builds retention, engagement, and culture. So how is your organization welcoming its new employees? Let's here some great practices that we all can adapt. #EmployeeExperience #OnboardingMatters #CultureByDesign #RetentionStrategy #WorkplaceCulture #EmployeeEngagement

Most leaders think creating belonging is a nice-to-have soft skill. They're missing the... Performance strategy hiding in plain sight. When someone questions if they belong, half their energy goes to reading the room. Not doing the work. That developer second-guessing every code review?  They're not focused on building the best solution. They're calculating if pushing back will cost them their seat. The manager staying quiet in meetings?  They're not thinking about customer insights. They're measuring every word for social risk. 🔹 Belonging isn't about being nice. It's about removing cognitive overhead. When people feel secure, they channel their energy into the work. They take creative risks.  They speak up when something's wrong.  They push back on bad ideas. 🔹 How to build this foundation: → Acknowledge good ideas publicly, especially from quieter contributors → When you disagree, explain why their thinking still matters → Catch people doing things right in their unique way → Ask for input before sharing your opinion → Let people contribute their strengths without conforming to a template The teams that outperform competitors? Their people spend zero energy wondering if they belong. They spend all their energy figuring out how to win. What could your team accomplish if no one questioned their place? ♻️ Share if this resonates ➕ Follow (David Parsons) for more leadership insights 📬 Newsletter: bit.ly/43YQ8xR

High-performing teams don’t just happen. This is one of the things no one really tells you about leadership until you’re in it... especially as a CEO. They’re built through a combination of shared norms and emotional intelligence. A team’s performance comes down to how well they listen, respond, manage both collective and individual emotions to create an environment where the shared norm is the safety to know you'll be heard. Not agreed with. But heard. For me, it boils down to this: 👉 Psychological safety starts with honesty. (Not harmony.) When people feel safe enough to speak openly, and know their words will be valued and respected, that’s when real psychological safety exists. Teams and boards thrive when people can ask questions, name conflict, admit mistakes, or challenge the status quo without fear of backlash. What doesn’t work? ❌ Overly polished conversations where no one speaks their truth. ❌ Opinions disguised as questions. ❌ The “meeting after the meeting.” ❌ Silence mistaken for alignment. The real work is naming the tension in the room so it can be worked through. Ignored tension turns into resentment, stalled progress, and organizational risk. Here’s the part most CEOs learn the hard way: Authenticity isn’t the opposite of professionalism. We can (and must) be both. Vanessa Druskat's Team Emotional Intelligence norms are a blueprint for leading successfully: 1️⃣ Help One Another Succeed = understand team members, demonstrate caring, address unacceptable behavior. 2️⃣ Learn and Advance Together = Review the team, support expression, build optimism, solve problems proactively. 3️⃣ Engage Stakeholders = Understand team context, build external relationships. The glue to all of this? Belonging. When people feel excluded or irrelevant, motivation wanes and conflicts grow. And at the top, where feedback gets filtered and power dynamics are real, belonging is often the first thing to quietly disappear. Curious. How many of you have been in meetings where the real conversation never made it into the room? What did that cost the team? The organization?

It takes 5 minutes to lose a talented employee, You spent years developing. Because retention isn't about perks or pay. It's about belonging. Building trust instead of: ❌ Making promises you always break  ❌ Taking solo credit for team success ❌ Shutting down voices that challenge you The second you break trust, your talents are gone. The good news is: trust is a foundation you can build. Here's how: 1. Know what makes people stay → Ask: What makes you feel valued here? → Listen closely; these are clear warnings. → Understanding is the first step to improvement. 2. Build trust daily → Before decisions, ask yourself: → How will this impact team morale? → Trust grows through small, consistent actions. 3. Create safe spaces → Make feedback part of daily conversations. → Thank people when they speak up. → Model vulnerability first. 4. Establish clear growth paths → Set clear development plans. → Transparency helps talents commit long-term 5. Connect → When pressure is high, schedule one-on-ones. → It signals you care about their well-being. → Simple but transformative. 6. Lead with empathy → Put yourself in their shoes → Ask: "What would help you grow right now?" Remember: ✅ People stay where they feel seen. ✅ People grow where they feel safe. And every time you choose connection, you build loyalty. How do you make your team feel they truly belong? Repost to create a positive work culture. Follow Fatou Seck Mathon for more.