Hello and welcome to the bottom-up skills podcast I'm Mike Parsons the CEO of Qualitance and we are finally here at trend number eight, the end of our deep dive into the 2021 emerging trends report. And. The subject of today's show is connection. So the context of this is that if we're going to collaborate together in a team, if we're going to get things done as a team, uh, it all comes down to connecting.

And we discovered in our emerging trends report that sharing success together builds team rapport, builds that connection. So let's dig into it. Celebrating success is really important. It plays a [00:01:00] significant role in how we feel as employees. Uh, so it determines a lot of our employee satisfaction, but also the fulfillment that we have in a team building a product.

So the act of commemorating achievement, forges, a connection between ourselves and the group, and it really serves as a strong validation purpose. Cause if you think about it, if we're all acknowledging our own individual, Progress our own individual success. If we're all celebrating the team's success, then together, that means we're all feeling pretty good about things.

So let's learn how we can create a sort of a flywheel effect with both personal and group success to build connection. So, as I said, we did this very wide range, emerging trends report. We spoke to over a hundred people. Different countries, different industries. And it was really interesting looking at this data.

We [00:02:00] asked them, which of the following activities is the most challenging for you business and trying to create connections with teammates. And there's a whole list. Is it creating transparency amongst each other, checking in with each other, recognizing each other, sharing success or onboarding new people.

And it's the sharing success to feel like you're part of something was the number one response hitting up at 40% of all respondents. So it's a very strong signal. So let's unpack that let's get into this and, and work out what is happening. I think when we are. Going out and building something that really matters.

So let's say it's a brand new product in a brand new area, or perhaps you're in an existing category doing something wildly different. Um, it really to build a team, you really have to invite everyone's contribution. And we talked about that a lot, you know, in terms of [00:03:00] engagement in the previous episode, which was one of our big trends.

So you need to open it up for everyone. And then, you know, obviously learning is a really key part of the process. And we've talked about that as well. And so if you're going about doing something new, there's going to be some unknowns, which means you're going to learn something new, which is great. And this is the cornerstone of the context of this insight.

And what you have to remember is that if learning is so damn essential, This is really a proxy for personal growth for team growth for business growth. Because if you're learning, it means you're doing new things. If you're doing new things, you're growing. And so growing together as a team, learning new skills, learning new technologies, new tools, new frameworks, new methodology, it's all part of this story of growth.

So if we want to build connection within a team, this is where sharing of success. Really plays a role [00:04:00] because success can be something, whether it's really big or really small, it can be personal or it can be something that's shared amongst the group. I think the key thing here when we talk about connection is that if we learning, if we're growing.

Celebrate that, because this is the moment when you see that you have learned a new thing, that's a win, that's a success. When you see that your peer learns something new, that's a win, that's another success, and you should be so keen, so enthusiastic to celebrate their success, set the example so that they will share.

Their personal goals, they will share when they make progress on them and you can celebrate them because it's that moment. Then you, when you say, well done, Bob, well done. Jane, when you say that this [00:05:00] forge is a connection between the two of you, because you're acknowledging them before your own success, before your own learning.

And this, this is almost like. Servant leadership, putting the success of those around you before your self. So when we talk about sharing success, it doesn't have to be the big multi-year multi-billion dollar deal. It can be, Hey, I learned a workaround for this bug. That's really been annoying me about the product and I fixed it.

Good on you. Hey, I learned how to improve conversion on our funnel. Good on you. And you know what? The more that you go out into the world and that you recognize the growth, the learning, the success of your colleagues, the more you do that, the more they'll recognize you. So we start getting into win-win territory here, everybody's winning.

And when everyone is [00:06:00] winning, when you're sharing those success, when you're celebrating that success, You'll find that if you help your colleagues and they achieve something, you will feel some wellbeing in that. And that's connection. That's empathy. That's understanding, Hey, we're growing as individuals, we're growing as a team, we're growing our product, we're growing our business and you know what.

That's a pretty good vibe. That's kind of somewhere. I want to work where it feels good to grow, to learn together, to celebrate the successes. You know, this is, you know, work, shouldn't be a labor. It shouldn't be all doom and gloom and obligation. It should be. Growth abundance opportunity and vibrant and celebrating those success amongst each other, again, to create those long lasting connections.

Right? Think about it in life, the best teams you've been on, you often still [00:07:00] have really good connection with those people. Maybe don't see them so much or chat so much, but when you do see each other, those feelings that shared success, that connection comes back pretty quickly. Doesn't it? So now let's go into another thing that we learned in our emerging trends report.

So we were really digging into this broad area of how we collaborate together. And specifically today, we're talking about this connection and I think we've established growth really important. So when you're building something, you've got to learn new things, and these are things that are wins when you learn those.

And you should share those bigger, small, personal shit. Okay. That's where we're at, but I got two more things for you to really bring home some learnings and insights around connection. One of the most powerful things you can do when you want to recognize your peer is know that peer recognition is the best.

[00:08:00] It is really the most powerful, in fact, it is in not only in our study, but also. Commonly understood that actually, when the boss gives recognition, it's kind of good when your peers right. When they give it, that's kind of great. And I think that's great because the team doing the work with you. So that's why it means the most.

They know what do you put into it to deserve that shared success, that personal growth, that team growth. So please recognize that. You should be actively celebrating the successes of your peers and your colleagues. And here's the big thing, do it publicly. Don't just say to them, Hey, well done. Take the opportunity to recognize the success, the growth, the achievements of others, big...