First a little bit about the team.
There are 7 people in the management team
And for about 2.5 years there are more or less regular meetings (once in 6-8 months) dedicated to team interaction, solving internal communication issues, team development, which are held with the help of the same external facilitator.
When we discussed the tasks and goals of the next meeting, we heard quite typical difficulties faced by the team that switched to "remote":
🔸 because of "remote" there is less time for small talks, small informal conversations/meetings, which obviously affects the general atmosphere in the team, the level of tension, the ability to quickly understand each other and to reach an agreement
🔸 the schedule is so busy that many aspects of quality communication have been "pushed" to the background (attention to thoughtful good feedback to each other and subordinates, focus on good decisions and achievements has been blurred by the need for "faster - higher - stronger", we almost never talk about why we care about what we do, how we want to interact and other things)
🔸 we want to take time for each other, come back to our strengths, resources, give each other feedback and think about what needs attention in our interactions and what we need personally....
At one stage of the session, we decided to give each team member the opportunity to think about and form their own "bank" of strengths: "how do I see myself?" (what am I best at, what are my strengths). And for each team member to complete (without seeing what he/she has chosen) the "Bank of his/her qualities and strengths". Thus, each participant got 2 lists:
How I see myself
How my colleagues see me
The tool "GPA Compensation and Feedback Cards" helped us with this. They enable easy access to interpersonal communications, consolidate the team, strengthen resource orientation and show what competencies a team or an individual lives by.
In the end, it was extremely interesting (and often unexpected) for everyone to see what matched and where there were differences. To think about why I and the team chose opposite qualities (and it happened), to discuss specific situations demonstrating it, to make decisions.
The leaders saw what they had not previously realized as their strengths and at the same time realized how some strengths can play the opposite role.
There are 7 people in the management team
And for about 2.5 years there are more or less regular meetings (once in 6-8 months) dedicated to team interaction, solving internal communication issues, team development, which are held with the help of the same external facilitator.
When we discussed the tasks and goals of the next meeting, we heard quite typical difficulties faced by the team that switched to "remote":
🔸 because of "remote" there is less time for small talks, small informal conversations/meetings, which obviously affects the general atmosphere in the team, the level of tension, the ability to quickly understand each other and to reach an agreement
🔸 the schedule is so busy that many aspects of quality communication have been "pushed" to the background (attention to thoughtful good feedback to each other and subordinates, focus on good decisions and achievements has been blurred by the need for "faster - higher - stronger", we almost never talk about why we care about what we do, how we want to interact and other things)
🔸 we want to take time for each other, come back to our strengths, resources, give each other feedback and think about what needs attention in our interactions and what we need personally....
At one stage of the session, we decided to give each team member the opportunity to think about and form their own "bank" of strengths: "how do I see myself?" (what am I best at, what are my strengths). And for each team member to complete (without seeing what he/she has chosen) the "Bank of his/her qualities and strengths". Thus, each participant got 2 lists:
How I see myself
How my colleagues see me
The tool "GPA Compensation and Feedback Cards" helped us with this. They enable easy access to interpersonal communications, consolidate the team, strengthen resource orientation and show what competencies a team or an individual lives by.
In the end, it was extremely interesting (and often unexpected) for everyone to see what matched and where there were differences. To think about why I and the team chose opposite qualities (and it happened), to discuss specific situations demonstrating it, to make decisions.
The leaders saw what they had not previously realized as their strengths and at the same time realized how some strengths can play the opposite role.