No Hard Feelings: Emotions at Work and How They Help Us Succeed

by Liz Fosslien

How to create a culture of belonging: Assume good intentions. If a colleague you know and trust missteps, explain why their behavior made you feel excluded and propose an alternate action. “Intentions do matter,” notes Pat Wadors. “Give people room to learn from their mistakes.” Belonging starts with onboarding. At Warby Parker, employees call new hires before their start date to tell them what to expect at orientation and to answer any questions. New Google employees whose managers give them a warm welcome on their first day are more productive nine months down the line. Assign “culture buddies.” Buffer, a social-media-management company, pairs new hires with employees who already understand the culture. At the end of the first week, this culture buddy sits down with the new hire to answer questions, give feedback (e.g., how the tone of their emails is coming across), and help them understand that feeling a bit out of place at first is normal. Make sure belonging doesn’t nosedive in meetings. Appoint one person to be an objective observer during each meeting. That person’s job is to record group dynamics, noting who speaks the most, who isn’t given any time to speak, and who keeps talking over other people. At the end of the meeting, have the observer suggest ways to improve group dynamics.