The purpose of this book is to help you build stronger relationships with your teammates so you can be a more effective leader and have a more fulfilling work experience. It’s easy to get caught up in our day-to-day business challenges and ignore the important task of cultivating deeper relationships with our colleagues. We aren’t self-aware about our own team connectivity because we take it for granted—yet it’s essential to our success.
For that reason, I worked with Dr. Kevin Rockmann, an associate professor of management at George Mason University’s School of Business, to develop the Work Connectivity Index (WCI), a self-assessment that measures the strength of your relationships at work. You and your entire team should take it to measure the level of connectivity you have with one another so you can increase that connectivity together. Teams with stronger levels of connectivity are more engaged, perform better, and are more committed to their organization’s future.
Your score is based on your personal needs for social connectivity, your actual connectivity, and the strengths of your relationships at work. Upon finishing the assessment, you’ll receive one of the following scores:
• High Connectivity. Your connectivity needs are generally being met because you’re getting enough personal interaction and attention from those on your team.
• Moderate Connectivity. Your connectivity needs are mostly being met. Because your personal needs for social connectivity are not likely to change, you may want to keep an eye on how much social contact you’re getting at work so you can continually improve your relationships.
• Poor Connectivity. You need more connectivity than you’re getting at work. Given your needs, you likely feel isolated from your colleagues.
• Weakest Connectivity. Your connectivity needs are far greater than what you’re getting at work, and you should make a considerable effort to improve those connections.
After completing this assessment, you will become more aware of how connected or isolated you are from those you currently work with. As a team leader who can administer this assessment to your teammates, you can identify employees who have a higher likelihood of quitting because of isolation and loneliness. You can also repeat the assessment over time to track improvements. Don’t worry if you receive a poor or weakest connectivity score; over the course of Back to Human you’ll learn many strategies that will help you improve your work relationships!
Take the assessment now at WorkConnectivityIndex.com.