In a typical day fast moving day, there are dozens of small opportunities for leaders to make or strengthen connections with team members and peers. Effective leaders strive to leverage these fleeting moments as golden opportunities to show respect, strengthen connections and even support coalition building. The trick is to execute a deliberate “connection” strategy throughout your day.

5 Ideas for Quickly Connecting On the Fly:

1. The Eyes Have It-In a large corporate environment where you encounter hundreds or more people per day, constantly connect with your eyes and your smile. I don’t care if you are walking from your car to your office or heading towards the company cafeteria for lunch, you’ve got a chance to engage a great number of people in a hurry…don’t waste it. Being recognized…even if it’s just a smile, direct eye contact and a friendly nod, serves up a spark of energy for both receiver and giver.

2. Provide Public Praise Where Appropriate-As you encounter teams or project groups, including sticking your head in at the beginning of status meetings, or bumping into groups in breakouts, never pass up an opportunity to offer supporting (and specific) praise.  Do the same for deserving individuals, just be sensitive to social factors that might create embarrassment for the praise recipient.  Absolutely deliver well-deserved praise in one on one contact situations.

3. Show Interest by Asking Questions-If you’re in charge, you’re supposed to know what’s going on, so don’t be shy about asking questions. A good tactic is to check-in on status and to ask whether there’s anything you can do to support the effort. Your inquiry PLUS your offer shows concern and commitment…much better than an openly invasive grilling. Of course, if someone has something for you to do, make certain and take care of it as quickly as possible.

4, Extend Invitations on the Go-“Jen, I would love to catch up on the Alpha project you are spearheading. Drop me a note and I will find a spot in my calendar as soon as you are ready.  Again, you’re showing interest and commitment, and your offer to adjust your calendar displays importance and respect.

5. Broker Introductions-Good leaders recognize the importance of helping others make connections. Always be thinking of other groups and individuals in the organization that might have valuable ideas to offer or be interested in knowing what’s going on with particular projects and programs. If you don’t know the right person, reach out to your peer and ask who might be most interested in the topic at hand. The better you do extending the network of your team members, the broader and more powerful your network becomes.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

A chance encounter is a horrible thing to waste. Too many managers roll through their days on a mission chasing the urgent and the urgent-unimportant, without investing any time cultivating relationships.  Develop the good habit of leveraging casual and fast encounters to pay respect, show interest and offer help, and you’ll single-handedly raise the office energy level.