The Challenge
A large service organisation approached me with a familiar problem: “People communicate, but they do not really “connect.”
An internal survey had showed, that employees experienced that teams were siloed – collaboration was inconsistent and information flowed vertically but rarely horisontally. Leaders and managers were frustrated that despite previous initiatives, internal cooperation felt accidental rather than intentional.
My interpretation was, that yet another communication workshop would not solve the problem. Instead, building a networking culture, inside the organisation, would be more effective.
The Turning Point
I designed a workshop and the client opted for the title ‘Strong Connections’, focused on building internal networks that support collaboration, innovation and trust.
The workshop began with a storytelling exercise, where leaders shared moments when internal relationships had made a difference in their success. This opened the room. People realised that collaboration was not a “nice to have” – it was a strategic advantage.
Then we moved into tailored steps structured to individualise and anchor the internal networking practices:
- Connection Mapping: – identifying who they rely on, who relies on them, and where the gaps are
- Collaboration Rituals: – simple, repeatable habits that strengthen cross‑team relationships
- The 5‑Minute Favour: – a method for building trust through small, consistent acts
- Structured Networking Rounds: – designed to break silos and create new alliances
The energy shifted from guarded, polite participation to genuine engagement.
The Inner and Outer Work
Just like in most of my workshops, the transformation happened on two levels:
- Outer: – practical tools, structures, and behaviours that make collaboration easier
- Inner: shifting beliefs about what networking is — from “extra work” to “how we succeed together”
Leaders began to see that internal networking is not about being social, but about the benefits of being strategically connected.
The Outcome
Within a couple of months, the organisation reported back, that it experienced:
- Faster problem-solving – reduced blaming, more accountability for finding solutions
- Increased cross-team support – and more pranks 😊
- More proactive collaboration
- New and stronger relationships between departments
- A noticeable improvement in trust and morale
One leader said, “We learned more than to network better. We learned to work better together.”
A specialist engineer added, “This workshop gave us both a structure and a jargon unique for us enabling collaboration we had not pinpointed, we were missing.”
