I never fully appreciated the value of recurring 1:1s - until I saw firsthand the magic of consistent conversations in both work and life.What might seem like a corporate routine actually creates space for serendipity: opportunities that wouldn’t have surfaced otherwise, staying top of mind, and allowing relationships to deepen over time through shared memories and growing trust.I set up a recurring meeting with another teammate, who I don’t work directly with, but is in a similar career stage as I was, to catch up every three weeks.It became one of my favourite rituals to look forward to - talking shop, teaching each other about the projects we were working on, and sharing advice on how we’re navigating work. These conversations often helped connect the dots. At one point, I realized she was working on something similar to what my mentor had built before, and I was able to connect them to share knowledge and context.When she started preparing for her leave, I was the first person she thought of to take over her project, not because I explicitly asked, but because we had built trust through our recurring chats. In one of our earlier conversations, I had shared that I wanted to broaden the scope of my work, as up until then I’ve mostly been working on mobile prototypes. So when the opportunity had come up, she immediately thought of me! Her project was a TV prototype, and she knew it would be a valuable learning experience given the goals I shared.Since getting to work on her TV project, I’ve now been considered for both mobile and TV prototyping opportunities when new projects come up! I realized how important it is to have touchpoints with people outside your direct manager on your team because they can advocate and surface opportunities for you in ways you wouldn’t really expect.As time goes on, it’s become harder to fit in 1:1 coffee chats and meetings throughout the week. I still think they’re one of the best ways to connect with someone for the first time and h