2021 — Start together, move together
New Year — New You! And I can mentally picture your eyes rolling and a deep sigh, result of so many broken and chipped resolutions left behind. Hold on! This is not a story about writing or achieving new resolutions, but a story about using this special moment in time to create a team momentum.
So let me share some thoughts I was marinating as your typical agile coach in a very normal day.
- Why is the start of a new year important?
- What can it do for a team?
- How to organise a new year session?
Why is the start of a new year important?
The start of a new year is a very powerful milestone or what the scientists call a “temporal landmark”. A temporal landmark is to time what that small beautiful bridge is to your afternoon walk: a special point in which you become aware of where you are, slow down and take in the big picture.
Temporal landmarks can be personal and social. Personal ones are birthdays, weddings, new jobs or performance reviews. Social ones are the start of a new week, new month, first day of summer and more powerfully the start of a new year.
As Daniel Pink explains in “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing”, temporal landmarks are important for two main reasons:
- “The fresh start effect”: Temporal landmarks have a symbolic meaning to us which creates the momentum needed for people to “open new mental accounts” the same way companies open a new fiscal year. It is a similar feeling to starting a journey, hard to describe but you know what I mean.
- “They shake us from the tree to see the forest”: Temporal landmarks close bigger circles that bring several things to an end. This endings are followed often by a different mode of thinking: slower, more deliberate and rational. Somehow turning 30 makes us reflect more on our life choices and commit to change than turning 29.
What can this temporal landmark do for a team?
The New Years Eve is a social temporal landmark shared by many. Most people had the chance to disconnect from work in between the years and get off the tree to see the forest. They come back with their brains reset from the small mundane things such as their passwords, but fresh with potential for deeper and new connections.
What do you as an individual move towards in 2021?
On an individual level, in some companies people already had their perfomance and development dialogues, which often set a direction for professional growth. Next to it, many of us have personal goals and intentions for the new year. These goals can vary from learning a new language, to sharing more knowledge, to disagreeing or living with less waste.
Creating the space for everyone to share what they move towards this year, helps people stay connected. As John M. Gottman, the relationship expert bestseller says, knowledge strengthens a relationship and makes it more robust to conflict or stress exposure. Knowing the why behind our colleagues sudden change of behavior, helps us empathize more, tolerate their first tries and know when and how to help and support. This way we have the knowledge needed to collaborate and move ahead together.
What do you as a team move towards in 2021?
The fresh start effect can support the team to dream of how they want to be this year. Taking a moment to think beyond the past two weeks and the next two, by asking these futurospective questions:
- What kind of team do you want to be this year?
- What atmosphere do you want to have?
- How do you want to communicate and share?
- How do you want to disagree and handle conflict?
- How and when do you want to give feedback?
These questions reveal to the system the hopes and wishes they are coming into this new year with. This way what would otherwise be unsaid and unnconcious is now part of a healthy discussion and creates a shared reality.
How to organise a new year session?
Here is a simple recipe. Safe to try at home.
Individual Level
Step 1: Invite the participants to share their own personal goals for 2021. What do they want to move towards this year? Ask them to include their names in their post-its too. Make sure that everyone knows they are invited to share only what they feel comfortable sharing. It is perfectly fine not to share anything.
Step 2: Then, ask the participants to take a gallery walk and check out the post-its in the white board. They can move similar post-its close to each other and already create the first collaboration possibilities. If remote, encourage everyone to unmute for this step to allow spontaneous exchange.
Step 3: Debrief back in the group.
Possible questions:
- Where do you see collaboration possibilities?
- Where can we support each other to reach our 2021 goals?
Team Level
Step 1: Invite the participants to reflect on the futurospective questions and in a retro-like manner write down one answer per post-it. I personally like to help them visualize the goal, by adding: “It is end of 2021 and you have had the best team. You liked coming to work everyday, you made connections that enriched your life and you feel energized. How does that look like?”
Step 2: Moving up from the individual level to the team level, invite them to take the same gallery walk and cluster their post-its. They can all unmute, so the nano-comments are audible.
Step 3: Debrief back in the group.
- What clusters and patterns are visible?
- What surprises came up?
- Looking into the big picture, is there anything missing?
Combinations
Check-in: Before starting the activity you can have a small check-in, such as:
- In what mood did you enter 2021?
- Draw without thinking what image do you have for 2021.
- What did you eat for New Years Eve? Pictures welcomed.
Generate Insights and Action Items: This activity can be followed by an open space technology session, inviting the participants to bring up from the white board any topics they would like to drive. Then divide in groups to generate insights and action items.
So, this was what I have been thinking about this week. Let me know if you try it out down in the comments. I wish you a great start in the new year!
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
CW1, 2021
