Connecting with Colleagues: A Case Study

Opportunities to connect with others occur just about anywhere – your office, their office, on the phone, at a restaurant, on the golf course, at a Happy Hour... the list goes on and on.  It’s important to consider where the conversation is taking place because the scene often can influence the way you choose to use sports talk.

Here's how Lisa, an account executive at a large advertising agency, connects to colleagues and increases her own visibility with her supervisor:

“Before every weekly staff meeting it seems like all of the male employees have settled down around one end of the conference table with their cups of coffee or energy drinks and talk sports. The conversation seems to loosen everyone up and sets a comfortable tone. Then we all know the meeting is about to start when my boss, the senior VP, joins in. It’s like he gets their attention and then segues right into the agenda.

I make it a point to sit near the guys. I don’t try to have something to say around all of those hardcore sports fans. I follow their lead and laugh, nod, hoot – or whatever they’re doing in order to fit in. But, I’ve been doing this so long, I sometimes do have something to say. It’s actually kinda fun.”

Lisa’s strategy to sit near the group and follow their lead is a good one, because talking sports with co-workers or friends is different from using sports to open a conversation with a stranger. 

We’ve observed a certain competitive aspect among co-workers to establish who knows the most whether its stats, facts or trivia. So, trying to jockey for position in that environment would be a losing proposition for Lisa.

Instead she overcomes both the non-verbal and verbal barriers that the sports fans have created by sitting apart and talking amongst themselves, by sitting with them and reflecting their actions.  Score one for Lisa!