When you travel, your time home with your family becomes that much more important. Recently, my wife and I realized that if we didn’t have a good greeting at the airport, then our time together would be off as well. Not bad, just off.

So we decided to create a ritual. I put together a playlist of songs that she and I both like and put them on our respective iPods. When the airplane touched down, I texted her to start her playlist and I started mine. That way we were both listening to the same songs and we were listening to the same song when we greet each other.

I love to listen to my iPod when I’m traveling because it acts like a soundtrack to life. But somehow this was special. It was a way to connect before we connected. Not only was the greeting great, but our time together was as well.

Rituals can be a powerful tool when used in the right context. 

Think about the rituals that you have in your organization.

Do you have Monday morning meetings to prepare for the week?

Annual strategy sessions?

Birthday celebrations?

What impact do they have?

Are there any times of the year that are particularly chaotic?

Think about what rituals you could establish that would help people pull together and function more solidly as a team.