Disconnect to Reconnect: A simple way to rekindle bonds in your community

I noticed something as I settled into a new space I was helping to manage.

Everyone seemed to get along with each other, but I was having a hard time getting a sense of who was in the room and what they needed.

For the most part, it seemed like people came in, did their work, and went home, only talking to each other when they had a good reason to.

This isn’t unusual, and for this group I can tell that everyone is pretty well keyed in to what they’re doing. But I needed at least to feel like I had a way to get to them, you know?

So I tried something that I’ve done before, but keep forgetting about.

I walked into the office today and didn’t touch my computer for at least the first hour of the day.

Instead, I hung out in the kitchen area—doing mundane maintenance tasks, but welcoming every opportunity to connect with whoever stopped by to chat.

In just an hour, I:

• Talked to a nice member who I haven’t check in with in a few weeks, when we had previously had a pretty important conversation about her professional growth. We were overdue for a catchup!
• In the course of that conversation, learned about a productivity / time tracking sheet she was using. I love those things!
• Got her feedback on my idea of starting a new Cotivation group, and a community-wide goal tracking scheme. She sounds interested!
• Talked to a new member, who it turns out is doing a weekend film project challenge that’s a lot like one that I did in NYC many years ago. It was great to connect with him over that!
• I got to show him the flyer for an “Obama Karaoke” event that’s happening tomorrow night. It was fun to wonder with him on what exactly that even meant.
• I fixed a coworker’s issues with the printer. It was annoying, but we made it fun. When it finally worked, we high-fived emphatically. Everyone in that area of the space was happy for us!
• I helped one of our interns get set up with a new computer. Now she’s cranking away, more productive than before!
• I started building a goals board in the space, so we can all see each other’s ambitions for the coming season.

So, to recap, I took care of things that needed doing, and forged stronger bonds with 4 people in the space.

If you’re building a community in real life, consider the opportunities you have to forge human connections in real life. It’s all too easy to retreat into the computer and lose track of that, but the desire to connect is what makes communities like these possible and worthwhile in the first place.

Want to conduct your own Disconnect to Reconnect session?

Register to download my PDF recipe and worksheet here: