How To Organise a Team B!tch Fest
Duena Blomstrom
Author | Keynote Speaker | Podcaster |Digital Transformation & Organizational Psychology Expert | Creator of Emotional Banking?, NeuroSpicy@Work & HumanDebt? | Co-Founder of PeopleNotTech? | AuADHD
As promised yesterday, in this video, we’re going into a few practical suggestions on how to organise a team emotional blockers’ removal session aka a “B!tch Fest” from a logistical point of view.
- Set aside the time and express the exact intention to create the safe space in this session - a minimum of an hour - If you’re a user of our PS Solution software for teams use the “Set Team Action” to agree with the team what this session will look like and get everyone excited and onboard;
- Set up a Miro board (or InVision or any other online board or send them in an email or display them in a slide on the screen) with 4/5 already pre-filled framing affirmations in advance;
- Model the vulnerability involved in answering with brutal honesty as a Team Leader by going first and going hard in particular if they know or suspect you have a certain grievance yourself, don’t shy away from being authentic and candid;
- Ask things such as:
- “What really gets my goat is…”
- “If I could be CEO/Team Leader for a day I would…”
- “One thing in the last year that was really bad/unfair is…”
- “What makes me day-dream of another job is…” and (importantly)
- “If I were to be really honest…”
5. Let everyone take turns with their answers and ensure everyone is listening and they feel heard;
6. Express clearly you there is no solutioning to be done and no resolution to be had at the end of this session, this doesn’t need to be “constructive criticism” for once.
Make sure the session uncovers things such as the rumours, the gossip, the dissatisfaction with change or managerial decisions, the feelings of disrespect, the fears, the systemic criticism, etc. Old wounds and fresh scratches alike. Anything holding them back.
If done right - cuttingly honest, truthfully and by keeping it entirely real, then a session like this -ideally held before a Team Relaunch where you revisit the purpose and recontract ways of work and of interacting-, should have a cathartic effect so powerful, it should pave the way to starting on the real people work on the road to Psychological Safety and therefore performance magic in the team.
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Product Owner | AI, Experimentation & Digital Transformation | SAFe? 6 Agilist, CSPO? | Speaker on Agile, DEI & Behavioural Economics
4 年How cathartic these sessions would be in a safe environment. Literal cleansing of the air ????
?? C-Suite Executive | Leadership Development & Strategy Expert | Executive Coach | Transformational Change Leader | Business Growth & Turnaround Specialist ??
4 年Highly necessary and totally understated!
Managing Director AdGiftsOnline Limited & BNI Executive Director Staffordshire ? Helping Business Owners & Entrepreneurs generate more new business ? Marketing & Sales Opportunities ? Referral Networking
4 年We use another approach that works very well for colleague feedback. Everyone has an opportunity during team meetings to have a WIFLE session - What I Feel Like Expressing. It's a great way to give feedback between colleagues without it being seen as criticism or a personal attack and helps to deal with potential tension or flashpoints before they have a chance to really build up. Everyone in the team knows and understands the rules and for all the years that we've used it, we've had positive outcomes. I learned this from an ActionCOACH I worked with and it definitely works. In other businesses they use the same concept but have their own name for it - e.g. pass the spanner in plumbing and engineering, or whatever else people come up with that suits their business.