My biggest challenge – and favourite part of my work – is to get people to see each other differently. It’s undoubtedly not what they’re there for. In fact, they often resist it. And yet, it’s exactly what everyone who attends a team workshop needs.
Why Seeing Your Team Differently Can Change How You Work Together
Over the years I’ve used many tools to get people to open up, to reveal a little more of themselves than a hardened version that is keeping things at a standstill. But I have a new favourite. It’s the simplest ‘trick’. It’s so simple, it’s not even a trick, but it works. As evidenced by the looks on people’s faces, and enthusiastic words shared by these attendees.
Here’s what you can do to invite a disruption in perception (and self-perception) at your next meeting or team get together. It’s an exercise I borrowed from Ben Crowe that uses reflection and sharing to invite perspective shift.
A Simple Team Building Exercise: Hero, Hardship and Highlight
Invite everyone to share:
A hero: someone who had a significant influence on them in some way – why them?
A hardship: what is something difficult they’ve experienced, and how it affect and shape them?
A highlight: what is a moment or experience they’re particularly proud of or grateful for, and why does it matter to them?
This will make everyone in the room warm and fuzzy, and they will go on to flourish as a team forever and ever.
I’m joking, of course. But I wanted to briefly interrupt any similar thoughts you might have in response to the exercise. There’s a well-researched reason why something this simple can change the air in a room.
When we share something meaningful about ourselves, and someone listens to us, we move beyond roles, competence, small talk even. The research shows that sharing personal experiences like this can increase feelings of closeness and connection. And I don’t need to tell you that that is the ground for a thriving work culture.
The Power of Feeling Seen and Supported at Work
I’ll go first. I’ll tell you about one of my heroes. In fact they come as a team; my parents.
I am one of four and we grew up on the land. Money was tight and we were constantly at the whim of the seasons, but through it all, my parents were such a positive and united team. And they encouraged us to be ourselves. My siblings were always more competent at (and keen about) stock work, shooting rabbits, riding horses etc, and I was much more interested in school work, reading, dressing up and dreaming up stories. I was the first person in my family to go to uni. All of this could have been a struggle, but it never felt like it. My older sister was the first female woolclasser in Australia, and my younger sister has been shaping the world since her school days. All of us were allowed to thrive and we knew our parents were so proud of, if sometimes nonplussed by, our choices.
I am so conscious of how much that positive support and those freedoms to be myself have shaped me.
I’d love to hear about your hero(es) if you’d like to share 🙂
All good things,
Juliet Robinson
Leadership and Change Specialist
PS: If you know you need to positively disrupt your team culture, you might like to consider asking for a helping hand.
