It is only one floor away

Yesterday at church, the main floor bathroom was occupied so I went downstairs to use that one and as I walked down the stairs, I realized that I had not been downstairs for a while. I used to go every Sunday when I did youth group, but now that I am not involved with RE (Religious Education), I don't go as frequently. I could also sense that I am getting disconnected from the children and youth in the Church by not going "downstairs". I vowed that I could never get disconnected from the youth in the church and become one of those old fogies who complains about them and their behavior.

Intergenerational interaction are a challenge for any group, and especially our church. We try to raise awareness, by intentionally scheduling activities that get the generations to "play" and "work" together. As an aside the Burlington VT UU church has social hour separate for adults and those involved in RE. This seemed really strange when I noticed this because it really separates youth, children and the possible adults relationships they might be developing when a young person runs, and almost knocks down the 101 year old octogenarian, and the "it takes a community" intervention happens by that loving adult, not always their parent or guardian. In the case of Burlington UU, they have 2 services and there is no place to accommodate all the people who want to be social during social hour.

What I thought yesterday is our challenge at work to get the 6th floor and 7th floor to interact, or even the North side 6th floor and South side 6th floor to interact (they are separated by the kitchenette). We schedule lunches, lectures, social events, and we are still inclined to hang with our familiar buddies. We often discuss this at our leadership meetings, that many employees in different Business Units on the site could share work information and end up helping and supporting each other on work projects, because they are working on the same technology.

There has to be a reason to go to the North side of the floor rather than just wandering over, and there has to be a reason to go "downstairs" at Church rather than to use the bathroom. How have you helped groups, who seem so separate, realize the advantage of reaching out across that boundary of a floor or a kitchenette? Do you have a similar story to my floor kitchenette one?