Create a culture that gets your team excited to grow
by getting your team to the same baseline with this exercise
Colleagues and teammates are not meant to build friendships. That’s not the end goal and nor should it be. A team setting is a space built on respect, trust and kind, receptive communication bridges.
In my work - I guide teams on how to define what’s most important to them as a team. They participate, get curious, define how they want to feel from the moment they arrive to their shift to the time they clock out.
In the hospitality world, it’s easy for us to forget about these important stages of our day. We get caught in taking care of the guest and this causes us to disconnect from each other as a team - and leads up to being exhausted beyond belief when it’s time to close down for the day. It’s in these moments where resentment, frustration and accusations begin. The accountability goes out the window and everyone is working in their own silo. No one enjoys working in this type of energy.
In each of my classrooms - I lead my students through this exercise. It gets us all to a place of respect real quick. I adapt the same process to all of my clients who are in need of support of adjusting or setting their culture where the individuals are highlighted and learn how to listen and collaborate with their peers.
After a recent project of a re-opening of an Inn under new ownership, on our first day of training, I guided the entire team through this exercise. The impact was magique. The owners were impressed and couldn’t wait to participate. We weaved the words that the team defined into the values of the Inn - every day - at every step of training. It created a space of inclusion and invited everyone's perspective to add their spice to the mix.
The exercise is as so.
1- Grab a LARGE piece of paper or use a big whiteboard. Put it up in front of the team so everyone can see.
2- Make 5 rows and name them as follows:
How we feel when we arrive to work
How we make the guest to feel when they are greeted
How we want the guest to feel during their experience
How we want the guest to feel when the are leaving our space
How we want to feel when are closing at the end of the shift
3- Start with the first row and ask your team how they want to feel when they arrive. Supporting questions below:
What is important to you when you walk into work?
How do you want to feel when you see your colleagues?
What do you need to feel motivated and inspired for your day?
What does respect mean to you?
4- Move onto the next 4 rows - one at a time. Giving each person time to process, think and participate. If a word is too broad - ask them to elaborate on what that word means to them. For each of these descriptive words - encourage them to tie in all of their senses.
5- Weave in your values and have the team give examples of how they can associate some of the words they picked to a value.
6 - Type up the end work of this exercise and share it with your entire team. Print it out and put it in a place that is visible for them to see, come back to, and add onto.
7 - Every quarter - during your team meetings - bring this back up and see if anyone has anything to add / shift / share to this cultural masterpiece.
If you are looking for something to support you with eliminating the sticky energy from your business - contact me directly to discuss a collaboration in me facilitating a workshop with your team for the biggest impact on this exercise.
Love a good whiteboard session - as you know 😉