I'm holding a Paczki - a jelly donut. In some parts of the country, like where I grew up, this is a tradition to eat these on Fat Tuesday. It's the donut lovers way to enjoy Mardi Gras. No matter what the situation, I make sure to get some for my family (and they don't even like them).
Shared traditions are a great way to build team relationships. This can be in any number of ways - birthday lunches, weekly coffee sessions, quarterly drinks after work, etc. The key to building relationships with people is not to become best friends, but be able to relate to them as people - as individuals.
There is a great deal of flexibility with this idea. You can create your own team traditions (like the birthday lunches) or you can ask people to share their traditions. As we work to understand cultural diversity, this may even be a great way to start to learn about other cultures. Many people didn't know what Juneteenth day was until last year - maybe someone who knew about it or celebrated it before could share it with the team. Maybe a specific religious or cultural tradition around a holiday could be shared.
The idea is to make the tradition something to help people connect as individuals. You can't force people to do it, but most people welcome the chance to learn and grow from each other. And if food and celebration is around it, even more people like it.
What traditions does your team have?
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