Master the Art🖍️of Unstuck

Click hereClick here to discover practical tips for getting your team’s communication into a healthy, regular routine and breaking down those silos. to discover practical tips for getting your team’s communication into a healthy, regular routine and breaking down those silos.

Team communication in an SMB is complex. Teams get stuck when information stops flowing. Leadership is required to resolve this dysfunction.

Twenty years ago, I was working with a cross-cultural team on sustainable development projects in Afghanistan. We had Filipinos, South Koreans, an Ophthalmologist from South Africa, Americans, and Texans (a special breed of American). The president of the development NGO facilitated a 1-day session for this team that started with an exercise called The River – simple, low-cost, and one of the most transformational xcelerators for team performance that I have ever experienced.  

We’ve practiced this exercise with hundreds of our XM Performance clients and regularly do the same with our own team. You can use this exercise as a multiplier at the beginning of a strategic planning session, or in a 2-hour extended lunch anytime your team communication feels clogged. Group size for this exercise is 8-12.

Set Up Includes:

A conference room with tables and chairs for the team, blank printer paper, and 2-3 boxes of 64 crayons.

Instructions:

1. On the front of your paper, draw out your journey (personal and professional) of the last 5 years as a river – surrounding rocks, streams, deltas, and/or vegetation might all represent different milestones or challenges you’ve overcame. No words, numbers, or text allowed. Stay intentionally vague here to unlock creativity (8-10 minutes).

2. On the back of the paper, create two columns. On the left, write out three strengths you bring to this team. On the right, three things you need from the team (1-2 minutes).

3. Each teammate shares their story, their strengths, and their needs (3-5 minutes).

4. Have one person draft the collective strengths and needs in a document to share after the session.

5. Hang your art in your office for 2-3 weeks with the list of strengths/needs to help the conversation stay top-of-mind.

Try it – the cost is low and the pay-off is high. If your team has a high level of communication dysfunction, one of our professional facilitators could help you through this exercise.

You are probably closer to your next breakthrough than you imagine. Take action and we will see you on the Xtra Mile. 

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