Creating a workplace where curiosity thrives can build healthy team dynamics and deepen connections between leaders and their teams.
Research shows that encouraging curiosity can lead to more innovative thinking, increased engagement, and stronger team cohesion. According to a study published in the Harvard Business Review, curious people are more likely to share ideas and collaborate effectively, leading to improved performance and happiness at work.
We talked to top executives at innovation-driven companies who shared how they tap into the power of curiosity to foster deeper connections with their teams. Keep reading to learn how top execs are building high performing teams and how you might apply some of their learnings to your team.
11 Tips to Build High-Performing Teams with Empathy and Curiosity
1. Share What You’re Curious About, and Check-in With Your People
Lead by example. Share a lot about what you’re curious about and what you are up to. I often start with my family and home life. I start by telling my team frequently about what’s going on at home. This makes them more willing to share with me. Once we’ve created common ground as people, our teams are more likely to create and share common ground at work.
Build empathy into your culture. Every manager we train is taught to ask “How are you doing?” in an authentic way at every 1:1. We start with mental health and train the managers to share about themselves. Curious and engaged cultures are a give and take. You have to give a part of yourself and teach your leaders to do the same.
2. Try the “Tell Me More” Strategy
With my teams, I use the “Tell me more” strategy – when there is a problem, or a success, I ask them to tell me more about what worked, what didn’t, what else we could try. In one project, I started it with “let’s pretend there are no blockers, no restrictions or restraints, and talk about what the best possible solution would be – then we can back into what is possible with current restraints”
Emily Myers, Senior Vice President, Customer Success, TextUs
3. Default to Curiosity and Openness When Something Doesn’t Go Well
I think the most important thing you can do is model this behavior. Most tech leaders say they want creativity and curiosity, but then they come down hard on teams, which doesn’t create openness and curiosity. So, the next time an employee doesn’t show up to work or a project fails, lead by saying, “I am curious about what is going on for this person or that team,” and get truly curious to learn more. By showing that this is the default response, teams will start to open up and do the same.
Cache Merrill, Founder, Zibtek
4. Create a Slack Channel to Share New Discoveries & Curiosities
We have a Slack channel called, “Insatiable Curiosity,” which is also one of our core values. Our team members continuously post what they are reading, watching, learning and discovering.
Karen Mangia, President & Chief Strategy Officer, The Engineered Innovation Group
5. Share Results and Impact in a Fun, Creative Way
Sharing insights and impact on what product teams ship to a wider company audience in a way that’s educational and entertaining does wonders. Doing this in async (Slack) and live has built an appetite for teammates to learn more and do more for our customers and business. For an all-hands, presenting results in a game show format works really well with audience participation (Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Jeopardy, etc.).
Andrew Nguyen, Senior Staff Product Manager, Zenni Optical
6. Create a Weekly Space to Share Ideas
We have leveraged the power of “Tech Talks” to foster curiosity and deeper connections within our technology team. These weekly sessions provide a platform for team members to present new technologies, frameworks, or industry trends they have been exploring. Unlike traditional training programs, Tech Talks are entirely driven by the interests of our team members, making the sessions more engaging and relevant.
This approach encourages continuous learning and drives team members to stay abreast of the latest developments in the tech world. Furthermore, the interactive nature of these sessions promotes dialogue and collaboration, helping to build stronger connections as team members share their insights and challenge each other’s ideas in a constructive manner.
Amit Doshi, Founder & CEO, MyTurn
7. Make Space for Sharing Updates and Embracing Vulnerability
We try to foster curiosity and deeper connections within our team through intentional time allocation. At the start of every meeting, whether it’s a one-on-one, departmental, or leadership gathering, we dedicate a few minutes for individuals to share personal or professional updates. It seems so simple, but giving away your most valuable resource, time, and modeling the way with meaningful contributions sets the stage for genuine connection.
We leverage the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), and during our Level 10 meetings, we emphasize the “discussion” phase of the Identify, Discuss, and Solve process. We encourage team members to remain curious, ask questions, and delve deeper into discussion of issues before jumping to solutions. By fostering this culture of inquiry, we naturally arrive at more thoughtful and effective outcomes.
Finally, I believe it’s crucial to embrace vulnerability and avoid shutting down team members who express differing viewpoints. Whether it’s a personal share that shifts the meeting’s tone or a challenging question about an existing initiative, we strive to create an environment where diverse perspectives are welcomed and curiosity is nurtured. Ultimately, I think leading by example and allowing for the unknown are key to fostering a truly connected and inquisitive team.
Meghan Paden, Chief Operating Officer, Preventia
8. Ask Questions to Spark Curiosity
In addition to it being part of our core culture, I really like to ask teams questions about what we’re building, the tools we’re using, etc.
“Why did they build it this way?” “What if it could do _____?” “I wonder if ______ is possible?”
When you are working with curious people, they tend to get excited about these types of questions and do some of their best work when finding and validating the answers.
Mike Bal, Sr. Director of Technical Product Management, The Engineered Innovation Group
9. Share Knowledge With Regular Lunch-and-Learns
One thing I like to do with my tech team to spark curiosity and strengthen our bonds is to have regular sessions where we all share our knowledge and work together across different areas. We might have lunch-and-learns where people from different parts of the team talk about interesting topics or projects. It’s a great way to learn new things and get to know each other better outside of our usual work.
Also, I suggest team members get involved in hackathons or innovation challenges to try out new ideas, play around with new tech, and team up with different colleagues. These events are great for sparking curiosity and creativity, as well as building camaraderie and a shared mission within the team.
By encouraging curiosity and promoting collaboration between different departments, we can help team members grow personally and boost innovation and problem-solving skills within the technology team as a whole.
Matthew Ramirez, Founder, Rephrasely
10. Celebrate Holidays to Build Relationships Across Cultures
Most of my teams are comprised of employees in the US, Philippines and India—all of whom work together daily. To promote curiosity and deeper connection, we celebrate each other’s holidays and special days with virtual team-building activities to celebrate those days. That encouraged team members to share insights about their cultures, traditions, and work styles through regular video meetings or virtual coffee chats.
Toby Reeves, CEO, Olympia Point Ventures, LLC
11. Promote Collaboration Through Gamification
In our tech organization within the manufacturing industry, we promote collaboration through gamification to foster curiosity and connections. I believe that collaboration is an extremely effective method for sparking curiosity in educational technology. We organize our staff into teams, assigning them tasks that require collective problem-solving or project completion, infusing fun directly into the project itself.
This approach motivates our team to engage in asking questions, sharing ideas, and learning from one another. We facilitate collaboration through platforms like Google Drive, Zoom, or Slack. I find that gamification eases their anxiety by offering a structured way to interact that feels more comfortable.
We use game-like elements such as challenges, quizzes, and scavenger hunts to encourage connections and learning among participants. From my experience, this has led to increased participation and has created memorable experiences for attendees. Gamification also improves our ability to track interactions and provides valuable insights into how effective our networking opportunities are at the company.
Alex LaDouceur, Co-Founder, Webineering
Conclusion
Creating a workplace full of curiosity and empathy can make a big difference in how teams work together. By sharing ideas and showing genuine interest in each other, leaders can inspire their teams to think creatively and stay engaged.
Whether it’s through asking thoughtful questions, celebrating achievements with fun activities, or creating opportunities for learning, these actions help build stronger connections and improve teamwork.
CATEGORY: Entrepreneurship