what does your colleague mean to you?

"What does your colleague mean to you?"

This was an opening question I asked at the beginning of last week's teambuilding session.

Introducing yourself or a colleague can easily be a superficial listing of facts: name, role, department, projects, learning objectives... what's much more interesting to me (and the team) are the existing relationships that are in the room:

who mentors whom...

who has lunch together...

who is known for random acts of kindness...

Each pair of participants comes up with a different variation of stories. Conversation immediately livens up as others chime in with additional context. Compliments, curiosity, and joy are easy to tap into when we realise that we make meaning together.

The real work of "teambuilding" is not attending a workshop together. It happens moment by moment in our daily lives. This opener is a reminder of the connections that already exist; who's already there. Or still there after a much loved colleague has left.

The workshop then becomes a playground. A liminal space that allows for new kinds of exploration. Who can we be when we work together?

At the end, the room's doorway opens up to a whole world of possible connections.

With this little story, I'm happy to let you know that I'm offering workshops and trainings for organisations again: improvisation for people who work with people.

Contact us to see how we can be meaningful to your team too :-)

Photos by Angelina Castellini