To connect nodes, go to the node manager of the nodes you want workers at (You can see what your workers can do on the map and selecting the nodes)
Talk with the node manager and go to "Node management" to open the map. At the left-top corner you'll see "Invest in node". Press this and you've connected a city to a node.
You need to connect all previous nodes, you can check this on the map, you'll see a white line between a city and a node its connected with.

As you can only have 1 free worker per city, you'll need to buy some lodgings, you can do this by going to the map and selecting a city. If you click on a building which has lodgings, select them and buy that lodging.

You'll need workers to do the work, you can buy those at the Work Supervisor. There is a marketplace for great workers, but also a normal market for cheap and unexperienced workers.
The better the worker, the faster the work.

To assign a worker, go to your map and click on the node you want a worker to work at, you will see an icon within that node on what job a worker can perform there.
Simply press one of those jobs (Most nodes have only 1 job, but some have 2-3). Then select the worker you want to assign and select the amount of work you want your worker to perform.

There are 3 types of workers:

• Goblins
  Goblins are the fastest workers, they require a lot of beer so there is more to maintain on your goblin workers, but for a quick pay, goblins are the best to go for.
  
• Humans
  Humans are regular workers, they require a normal maintenance.
  However, humans are great at finding rare items, so if you're collecting resources, be sure to put your human workers at the spot that has the most rare items.
  
• Giants
  Giants are slow workers, they require little maintenance as their slow work consumes a tiny amount of stamina. They are best for if you're going AFK for a long time.

Worker grades:

• Grey workers (Worst workers)
  
• Green workers (Bad workers)
  
• Blue workers (Regular workers)
  
• Yellow workers (Good workers)
  
• Orange workers (Best workers)

You'll need beer to feed workers, you can cook them with:

• 5 Corn, Wheat, Potatos or Barley
  
• 2 Leavening Agents
  
• 1 Sugar
  
• 6 Mineral Water

You can also buy them at the marketplace.
Open your menu (Escape) and select the Workers menu. You can feed your workers here.

Resources are automatically stored in the storage where your workers live.

If you've assigned a worker in a workshop, you need to put the resources in your storage. You can assign a worker to work in the workshop by going to your map > the city > the building > the workshop > assign work