Towards Understanding the Potential Functions of Rituals and Ritual-like Activities in the Workplace

This study investigates the potential functions of rituals in organizational and leadership settings, demonstrating that purposefully designed group rituals can foster feelings of togetherness, joy, and energy. However, the implementation of such rituals may encounter challenges, including feelings of awkwardness, which can hinder acceptance and diminish their positive effects. While rituals have likely played an important role in human survival and development, empirical research on their role in workplace settings is still in its early stages, often limited to laboratory experiments. This study employs a combination of qualitative questionnaires and group interviews and is guided by the hypothesis that workplace rituals significantly influence organizational culture and individual well-being, with potential positive and negative ethical implications for employee experience and organizational outcomes. In this article, rituals are examined longitudinally through a four-month-long experiment involving two groups of experienced leaders in a leadership program. The study found that a simple, predefined group ritual enhanced feelings of inner peace, readiness, and togetherness, whereas higher-arousal feelings of joy and energy were associated with a self-created ritual. The success of these rituals was contingent on the involvement of a “master of the ritual” and the avoidance of perceived awkwardness in the early stages. Finally, this study suggests that the effects of ritual-like activities may be comparable to those of rituals.