Destination On The Left Episode 362: Strategies for Fostering Meaningful Connections in the Workplace, with Nicole Mahoney
Nicole Mahoney is an entrepreneur, speaker, and podcast host with a passion for business. She’s the Founder of Break the Ice Media, a PR and digital marketing agency specializing in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry, and also serves as the CEO of Travel Alliance Partners. In her weekly podcast, Destination on the Left, launched in 2016, she interviews tourism professionals from all over the globe on creativity and collaboration.
On this episode of Destination on the Left, I share how my company fosters meaningful connections among our team members, clients, and industry partners. I outline the four key ingredients for creating a well-connected and productive workplace, including company culture, meetings with purpose, continuous mentoring, and celebrations. This episode is all about helping you strengthen connections within your organization.
What You Will Learn in this Episode:- Why any healthy company culture includes a defined purpose and a shared vision and values
- Why Break the Ice Media values meetings with purpose, which have a regular cadence and specific goals
- The three most valuable meeting types Break the Ice Media uses: status meetings, one-on-one meetings, and leadership team meetings, and how we structure them
- How we facilitate coaching and mentoring that leads to better connections — even with a remote team
- Why it’s so important to inspire celebration of each other and have fun together, and how to do this intentionally
On the show, I emphasize the crucial role of company culture in creating connections within a team, whether you’re together in person or virtually. I outline the key elements of a strong company culture, including a clearly defined purpose, vision for the future, and core values.
It is essential to define why the business exists and ensure this purpose is shared and understood by everyone in the company. Establishing a clear vision for the future helps provide a roadmap for the team, guiding decision-making and offering clarity during times of uncertainty. I also share why clearly defined core values serve as a compass, ensuring alignment among team members and driving decision-making processes.
Continuous Coaching and MentoringWe also dig into the importance of continuous coaching and mentoring in strengthening team connections. I discuss various ways to do this, such as weekly office hours, side coaching for the leadership team, growth charts, lunch and learns, and midweek check-ins.
These initiatives that we’ve put in place serve to provide ongoing support, sharing of knowledge, and skill development opportunities. By investing in coaching and mentoring, Break the Ice Media, and other organizations empower teams to grow, thrive, and build stronger connections with each other.
Resources: