46 ideas for building more meaningful relationships at work

In a time when connection often takes a back seat to productivity, building meaningful relationships at work is an act of liberation. During a recent client engagement, we asked team members to share one small idea on a Post-it note about how to create more authentic, human connection in their workplace. The result was forty-six thoughtful, creative, and heartfelt ideas that remind us that belonging is built through everyday actions, not grand gestures. These ideas center curiosity, empathy, and intentionality as tools for deeper understanding and collaboration. When we take time to really get to know one another, listen without fixing, and celebrate how people want to be celebrate, we can play a role in creating cultures where we value human connection and wellbeing.

1. Ask intentional questions to get to know people

2. Ask questions to get to know peers beyond work topics

3. Be up front about what “transactions” you’re needing

4. Better listener / listening more / listening without problem-solving

5. Listen to learn & understand

6. Share what you think you need

7. Sharing and listening to shared experiences

8. Seek to understand

9. Empathy (leading with empathy, meeting with empathy)

10. Truly and thoughtfully engage

11. Introductions & intentional conversations

12. Communication that is not only focused on “the work”

13. Vulnerability (bring your own vulnerability, make space to just be)

14. Check-ins (with people more often, including those you don’t know well; group check-ins, creative check-in tools)

15. Attend in support/allyship to groups who don’t share identities you have

16. Ask others to join for brainstorming activities

17. Brainstorm activities / inspire teams to create, explore, unite

18. Celebrate intersectional holidays & celebrate others

19. Celebration of joy in identities (not only struggle)

20. Community building

21. Create time and space for life updates

22. Create spaces where staff can be seen, heard, validated

23. Foster interpersonal 1:1 relationships

24. Support someone elses engagement in an activity

25. Support social engagement

26. More regular connection time

27. Regular fun activities (different versions of “fun”)

28. Go to karaoke with you colleagues

29. Commit to participating in activities (coffee chats, book clubs)

30. More collaborative recruitment

31. Ongoing dialogue

32. Streamline communication

33. Set meeting times to collaborate

34. Hold time to learn from one another, identify shared challenges

35. Collective ERG goal: unify work amidst anti-DEI pressures

36. Connect, ask questions of  your intended audience

37. Create intentional systems connecting staff to leaders aligned with their goals

38. Make group accomplishments and stories more visible

39. Make connections locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally

40. Create accountability pathways

41. Finding commonalities and common ground

42. Finding the right space/place to meet

43. Outreach and inclusion of all ideas (without cherry picking)

44. Providing support to those who keep members engaged

45. Transparency

46. During open seating time, sit with people you know less well

These forty-six ideas are an invitation, not a checklist. They invite us to slow down, reach out, and make connection part of how your organization operates every day. Whether it’s a simple check-in, a shared moment of laughter, or the courage to bring more vulnerability into a meeting, every action helps shift culture toward care and inclusion. In a world that often prioritizes speed and efficiency, choosing relationship-building is a radical practice of valuing people over process. When we invest in connection, we invest in the collective well-being that makes liberatory, sustainable workplaces possible.