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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.”