Recognising Reality
The situation
Many of our clients have been sharing examples of their teams performing brilliantly during the Covid-19 pandemic and (in many cases) achieving incredible feats in short amounts of time.
However as they emerge from lockdown they are experiencing fractures within their teams and, on an organisational level, across teams. They have:
Team members who have been furloughed who are feeling:
resentful that they were not allowed to remain at work.
that their role and their contribution has been devalued.
cut ‘out of the loop’ as smaller teams have been established, decisions made and new processes implemented whilst they were away.
that they have missed out on an important experience that was shared by others
and
Team members who have remained at work feeling:
resentful that they were not furloughed and envious of those who had “quality time with their family and afternoons in the garden”
exhausted from the practicalities of completing their own workload alongside that of furloughed colleagues – possibly whilst also home schooling their children.
weighted down from the expectation that they will keep the organisation running.
Most, if not all, organisations now face an uncertain future that is difficult (if not impossible) to predict. They are looking to their team leaders to motivate and engage their teams so that they can perform at their very best - within very difficult circumstances.
What we did
As part of a suite of options we designed and facilitated ‘Recognising Reality’ sessions which:
recognise, and honour, all of the facts and all of the emotions associated with the current situation.
provide space and quality time for all team members to speak openly and honestly.
welcome diversity of thinking, knowledge and experience
create a platform for the team to move forwards from.
allow time for fun and creative thinking too!
Each team member was sent information about the session so that they knew what to expect and how to prepare.
In the session we invited them to:
tell their story of the past few months and the impact that it has had on them.
move past the ‘role’ or ‘job title’ and get to know each other a little better on a personal level.
recognise the contribution that every team member has played in getting the organisation where it is today.
listen as the team leader outlined the goals that lie ahead.
co-create ‘what happens next’ and how they want to work together.
The impact that it had
Feedback from the sessions include these examples:
“I didn’t realise that others were feeling the same way as me – it was good to be able to share”
“I enjoyed creating the way forward together”
“I have worked with some of these people for years and I have learnt more about them in this session than ever before”
“I found my voice and had the courage to share my thoughts – I never normally do that”
“I feel much more connected with other members of my team now”
“I didn’t realise how much knowledge and experience there was in the room until people started sharing”
“I can’t believe how much we covered and how many ideas we came up with in such a short space of time!”
“I was feeling really nervous before this session and disconnected from the team – now I feel excited about what we can do together”