Getting to know your colleagues better to work together more effectively.

Why is it important to get to know colleagues at work?

Getting to know each other in the workplace is a key issue for fostering quality professional relationships and effective collective functioning. When colleagues understand each other better, collaboration becomes more natural and communication flows more smoothly. Each person can more easily identify their colleagues’ work styles, expectations, and constraints, which limits misunderstandings and facilitates teamwork.

This mutual understanding also has a direct impact on engagement and the feeling of belonging. Feeling recognized as an individual, beyond one’s role or tasks, strengthens attachment to the team and the company. Colleagues are more likely to engage, cooperate, and actively contribute to collective projects, as well as to help each other.

Furthermore, getting to know one another enhances collective performance and well-being at work. A climate of trust allows for better role distribution, complementary skills, and more effective decision-making. In an environment where relationships are healthy, colleagues gain serenity, motivation, and efficiency.

Finally, better understanding one another helps prevent tensions and misunderstandings. By understanding differences in personality, communication styles, or priorities, teams develop greater tolerance and respect. Disagreements can then be anticipated and managed constructively, contributing to a more peaceful, sustainable work environment.

Team Building: A Lever Among Others

Team building is often seen as the primary tool to strengthen bonds among colleagues. It creates opportunities for conviviality outside the usual work environment, promotes informal exchanges, and fosters teamwork spirit. When well-designed, it improves cohesion, reinforces trust, and facilitates collaboration within teams.

However, team building has certain limitations. By nature, it is often one-off, and its effects can quickly fade if not maintained over time. Additionally, these events are not always perceived the same way by all employees: personal constraints, differences in sensitivity, or social ease can limit their inclusiveness. Some participants may, for example, remain on the sidelines, with the connections made during these moments not extending into everyday work life.

That is why team building cannot be viewed as a standalone solution. For it to be truly effective, it must be part of a broader approach and complemented by sustainable actions that promote mutual knowledge on a daily basis. By combining regular initiatives, adapted management practices, and structural HR measures, companies can sustainably anchor cohesion and quality relationships at the core of their operations.

Some HR Ideas to Explore

Beyond one-off events, Human Resources have many tangible levers to sustainably encourage mutual understanding among employees. These actions, integrated into daily routines, create authentic connections and strengthen team cohesion over the long term. Here are five suggestions:

1. Encourage informal daily exchanges

Professional relationships are primarily built through regular interactions. HR can promote the establishment of team rituals such as informal exchange times, team coffees, or sharing moments at the beginning of meetings. Integrating dedicated time for personal exchanges, even if brief, strengthens closeness among colleagues. Additionally, creating meeting spaces, whether physical or virtual, facilitates spontaneous interactions and contributes to a more friendly work climate.

2. Promote cross-functionality

To get to know each other beyond their usual scope, it is essential to break down team silos. Inter-team projects encourage collaboration among different profiles and jobs while developing a better understanding of each other’s challenges. Pairing or mentoring, especially during onboarding or targeted periods, is also an effective lever. Finally, temporary mobility or immersion opportunities allow employees to discover other work environments and create lasting connections within the organization.

3. Better know the individuals, not just their roles

Getting to know each other also involves recognizing individuals beyond their functions. HR can highlight employees’ paths, experiences, and personalities through dedicated formats: internal profiles, testimonials, or team presentations. Sharing interests and passions fosters unexpected connections and reinforces closeness. Appropriate presentation tools or formats can help humanize professional relationships.

4. Leverage digital tools

Digital tools play a key role, especially in hybrid or multi-site organizations. Collaborative spaces (intranet, Teams, Slack, internal platforms, etc.) should not only be used for working on documents; they can become “real places” for sharing accessible to all. Remote activities, such as informal exchange times or collaborative tasks, help maintain connections despite distance. Systems designed for hybrid teams contribute to ensuring equitable access to interactions, regardless of the working mode.

5. Integrate inclusion and diversity

Finally, encouraging mutual knowledge requires taking differences into account and creating an inclusive environment. Initiatives to raise awareness of cultural, generational, or behavioral diversity help develop mutual understanding and respect. HR has a key role in creating a safe framework where everyone can express themselves freely. The example set by managers and HR teams is crucial for establishing a culture of openness, respect, and trust.

The Role of Managers as HR Relays

While Human Resources initiate and structure approaches to foster mutual understanding, managers play a crucial role in their daily implementation. As close relays, they embody HR actions and give them concrete reality within teams.

Team facilitation is a central lever. By organizing collective times, whether formal or informal, the manager creates spaces conducive to exchange and meeting. Be it through regular rituals, sharing moments in meetings, or more informal initiatives, this facilitation maintains connections, reinforces cohesion, and sustains team dynamics over time.

The managerial stance is also crucial. A manager who promotes listening, kindness, and openness naturally encourages employees to express themselves and interact. By valuing differences, giving everyone a voice, and showing an interest in people beyond their tasks, the manager establishes a climate of trust essential for authentic exchanges. This exemplary posture contributes to creating an environment where everyone feels legitimate and recognized.

Finally, alignment between HR and management is a key condition for success. The systems implemented by HR can only produce their effects if they are understood, conveyed, and adapted by managers. Regular dialogue between HR and managers allows for adjusting actions to ground realities, sharing best practices, and ensuring overall coherence. This alignment reinforces the credibility of initiatives and guarantees their lasting integration into the company culture.

Some Concrete Ideas

In practice, here are some concrete ideas that can be tried:

1. The “5 minutes personal” at meetings
At the beginning of a team meeting, a colleague has 5 minutes to talk about a free topic: passion, journey, anecdote, personal project. This can be done on Monday mornings with “What did you do over the weekend?” or on Fridays with “What are you going to do this Saturday and Sunday?”

2. The internal podcast
The company launches a monthly podcast where two employees discuss their backgrounds, careers, and passions.

3. The wall of passions
A physical or digital wall where everyone can post a photo or a word representing a passion or interest.

4. The “Live My Life” day
One colleague spends half a day or a day with a colleague from another department to discover their daily routine.

5. The unlikely pairs
HR purposely pairs employees from very different professions to work on a mini-project or a common idea.

6. Collective challenges
Organizing sports, cultural, or charity challenges with mixed and cross-functional teams.

7. Voluntary discussion circles
Creating exchange groups focused on human themes: work-life balance, career paths, diversity, well-being.

8. “Culture and Journey” days
Voluntary colleagues share their culture, their journey, or a significant experience.

There are, of course, many more possible ideas. It is essential, however, not to forget that, whatever paths are chosen, the regularity of actions is a success factor, as are impact measures (Did it work? What was the engagement level?).

And if, in the end, we let our employees have a say to start 2026? With a very simple question to ask: What do you think should be changed or implemented to get to know each other better among colleagues?