As we all try to figure out what a post pandemic workplace needs to look like, change is high on the agenda for most teams.
This exercise brings teams together and helps them prepare for change by linking their history and past experiences with future expectations.
It’s pretty simple to run and helps you shift the focus from the past to what’s next.
You’re going to work together to build a timeline showing the highs and lows of the team.
To start with, sketch out something like this on a piece of flipchart, whiteboard or online whiteboard if you’re meeting remotely:
Perhaps starting with the longest serving team members, go back to the very beginning of the team, to piece together it’s history.
Moving from the left of the diagram, plot the key Highs and Lows. As more recent joiners are able, encourage them to add more details.
Record as much detail as possible. Where you can, illustrate with anecdotes.
By the end, you should have multiple peaks and troughs.
Once you’ve plotted the timeline, lead a discussion about what was really going on at each peak and trough. Capture a short description of what was happening – the good and the bad.
For each event, discuss why, with the benefit of hindsight, things went well or less well. Gather the lessons from the past and build a list of what should be “sacred” to the team moving forward.
Agree a top 3 values, attributes or better still, behaviours that have been at the heart of your success as a team or have got you out of sticky situations.
These are what need to be preserved as you tackle the future.