A coworker compliments your sweater, remarking that it’s just your color. Do you:
Humans have been building rituals since the beginning of time. They’re what bonds us. A shared performance or rite of solidarity that affirms we’re on the same page. It doesn’t matter how chaotic the rest of our day or lives are; when we’re sharing a ritual, we know our place.
That’s not to say we don’t get roped into rituals that really don’t resonate (taxes, anyone?). Rituals must meet some key criteria or risk being regarded as burdens or chores.
Today, we’re discussing why some team activities become habits while others get dropped ASAP. Why don’t some employees like office parties? Are standups obsolete? Are they tolerating your team ritual idea, or in the process of adopting it? Let’s find out.
Team rituals (A quick review)
Team rituals are one way we go about creating a culture of belonging in the workplace. They are habits and activities that speak to a shared identity.
Rituals encourage us to repeat positive behaviors and make us feel supported. They can also motivate us to perform to the community’s standards, especially at work. Some examples of team rituals in the workplace:
- Doing a cheer or dance before a shift starts
- Taking turns picking what to get for lunch
- Weekly check-in questions or icebreakers
- Team-building exercises, activities, and retreats
- Award ceremonies and other celebrations
Check out our total guide to team rituals with research, ideas, and tips.
Why some rituals fly while others fade
In corporate culture, you used to find a lot more people learning to golf against their will. Company customs like these were driven by what the “old guard,” leadership, board members, and their client base enjoyed doing.
This is a well-known example of a ritual that’s not inclusive. Employees carry it out to curry favor with leadership. It’s not conducive to tight team connections because it isn’t supposed to be; corporate cultures are more traditional and competitive.
The team rituals we design have different (and arguably more important) aims. The workplace has evolved its way out of the office. Employees are okay admitting they require work-life balance. When they don’t feel they belong, they can hold back the full strength of their abilities, increasing the need for recognition.
These are the differences between team rituals that build loyal bonds and team rituals that feel like unpleasant assignments.
Essential qualities of rituals that stick |
Signs of a poorly designed ritual |
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It’s an inclusive activity where the whole team is welcome. |
It’s only for part of the team, like those who meet certain performance goals. |
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Fun is embedded into the activity, there’s a natural sense of enjoyment in the doing. |
You have to tell participants where the fun part is or “force” them to have fun. |
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It’s simple to understand and easy to do. |
It requires excessive instruction or skills not everyone on the team possesses. |
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Aligns with core values and culture. |
Is unrelated to team customs or company identity, feeling confusing or even pointless. |
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Employees can build onto it, imbuing it with more meaning. |
It isn’t adapted over time with changing conditions or feedback. |
What did I do yesterday? Rethinking the standup as ritual
Making standups a ritual has obvious benefits. They get down to business, so we’re staying on more refined, productive topics. Organizations that do them do so regularly, so we’re nailing consistency. Everyone answers their questions, guaranteeing some level of participation.
But check it out from another perspective. The traditional standup has a script, a script that employees didn’t write. It is basically a status update meeting. It has purpose, but little meaning. Most of all, it emphasizes justifying your presence and admitting a challenge, not owning your place and solving challenges together.
See now how this easily becomes the tax season of an employee’s day, the round of golf they feel obligated to complete. Here are some ways to get the practical benefits of standups while creating a sense of belonging.
1. Change the questions.
There’s little reason to stick to the “What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? What’s blocking me?” format. Gather feedback and formulate questions that fit the culture and put the spotlight on collective progress and team goals. Try some of these check-in questions and see how they fare.
2. Keep them short.
A productive standup is going to inspire further conversation and collaboration, both of which will occur later. Employees will understand that these meetings have a real impact, drawing in the wider support they need outside of the actual meeting. The meeting itself will be concise.
3. Go virtual.
It takes a level of comfort and familiarity to avoid feeling put on the spot. No matter the team’s work model, try virtual standups in the team chat. This frees up new ideas to try ritualizing, such as asking everyone to pick an emoji that best describes their mood for the day.
4. Add appreciation.
Belonging in the workplace means your unique qualities and contributions are appreciated. Standups are a great time slot for adding gratitude, as some of the most effective rituals incorporate peer recognition. Have team members do thank-you shout-outs to close the ritual.
5. Change it up.
Don’t get comfortable with your new questions. Swap them out based on what information is most useful to employees, current projects, and other changing conditions. And as always, leave room for the team to contribute new ideas for the ritual.
Ceremonious celebrations: The team ritual everyone overthinks
Team celebrations like parties and catered meals are a bit different from others. On the surface, they meet a lot of the “rituals that stick” criteria, but don’t always offer the biggest returns in engagement and motivation.
Parties and celebrations can be tough to ritualize because many organizations create them, not employees. These are complex team rituals with many decisions and dynamics within. From deciding when and where to what everyone eats and listens to, the event is being imposed upon them. They feel pressure to attend and enjoy what they’ve been given.
What does it actually take to get a team to enjoy (and repeat) a celebration?
1. A prior connection.
Employees who don’t feel connected or bonded to their coworkers will be less excited about attending. Small, everyday rituals centered on recognition can help forge the bonds that make larger celebrations enjoyable.
2. No cutting into free time.
Many team members don’t want to dismiss the company’s efforts to show them a good time. So they sacrifice their off-hours to attend, have an okay time, and ultimately resent having to do so. Make celebrations during scheduled work hours, where possible.
3. Input in organizing.
Teams may choose to celebrate during non-working hours, if you let them decide. Employees should have a hand in creating or owning anything an organization wants to become ritual. Let them build anticipation for the event by discussing the details with each other.
4. A clear, employee-driven purpose.
Is everyone on board with the reason for the celebration? If it’s unclear or irrelevant to them, it’s just another obligation. Meeting goals is the best purpose for a celebration. Cohesive teams are also known to like celebrating one another’s big milestones even more than their own.
5. Easy, low-pressure conditions.
Guilting teams into participation (“We’ve spent a lot of money on this”) adds stress to what’s supposed to be a fun event. The same can be true for celebrations where success hinges on socializing–a burden for teams that don’t normally socialize with one another. Make celebrations virtual or low-to-no-cost, if that’s what it takes.
Is your ritual working? A checklist
When is it time to let go of an idea and embrace a new one? The truth is, it isn’t always obvious how a team feels about a new ritual. However, if you can circle Y in at least three categories, you probably have a real ritual on your hands.
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Morale. Are employees encouraging one another more, being more optimistic, or overall more joyful? |
Y/N |
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Discussion. Do employees talk about or recall the ritual activity between sessions? |
Y/N |
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Connection. Is there a positive difference in the frequency or quality of employee interactions? |
Y/N |
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Participation. Do employees not only participate, but have ideas to contribute to adjusting/improving the ritual? |
Y/N |
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Alignment. Now that they’ve tried it, does the ritual still seem like a logical fit for the team’s culture and company’s values? |
Y/N |
How HeyTaco users build belonging in the workplace
Recognition and ritual are a natural blend on remote teams that use HeyTaco. Digital marketing agency Acadia ties virtual tacos of recognition to the company’s core values.
Meanwhile, the team ritualizes giving–both to each other and charitable organizations. Teams that feel they’ve done good together enjoy nurturing that connection to accomplish even more.
HeyTaco has even found its way into their monthly all-hands meetings. A fun, easy way to ritualize gratitude awaits your team, too. Check out some of our coolest features and test launch for free this week.
Designing team rituals FAQ
What are some habits of effective teams?
Effective teams share goals and values, trust one another, hold one another accountable, and prioritize communication. The sharing of goals under common values is an important factor that can be enhanced by building rituals.
What is team engagement?
When teams share goals, team engagement measures how locked in they are to meeting those goals. Individual employee engagement describes one’s connection to their role. Team engagement means they’re willing to do it together, for their workplace community.
What are some team engagement ideas?
Most team ritual ideas that will be adopted have a favorable impact on team engagement. Check-ins, gratitude sessions, lunches, hackathons, and more build stronger teams and engage them as a unit at once.
