𝔽𝕀𝔼ℝ𝕐 𝕄𝔼𝔼𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾𝕊: 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦

The team walks into the room with dread. 

Monthly catch-up is more like an accusation meeting with the Manager showing numbers and questions that seem to lack trust.

For the few who feebly tried to give clarification to the realty of the market and efforts (God forbid!), are admonished.

Most have learnt to keep quiet and nod for the fear of being burnt alive on dragon fire. Everyone thanks their stars when the meeting ends.

𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 '𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯' 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘶𝘵!

Today was different.

The manager, a smile, a deck of cards and a suffle. Folks wondered... nervously looking outside the glass façade of the meeting room to check if someone walking by was looking in. What would they think? What would they say?

𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀.

The manager laid the cards on the table, spread them. One saw colours, numbers, words, symbols and some scale... it dawns that something is different.... heartbeats high!

The managers invited all to move around, read the middle-word in the card, pick up the word that resonates with thoughts ongoing at this point of time, no talk, no share. Nervous glances around.

Asked to pair up and start a conversation with the partner on why they picked up these cards. The manager had also picked one and joined. 3 mins. dialogue and pairs changed. By the third person one met, the room had loud voices and deep conversations. Time flew and it was just about 15 mins from the start time. Usually spent on waiting for the 'missing member' or for setting-up the laptop. A few late-comers were integrated by the manager and none noticed.... voila the laptop was also plugged in while people spoke.

The bomb falls... agenda now. The fear was back however the feeling was "safe" with even the manager looking more like the sweet 'Toothless (the dragon)'. Safety made more open up and explain the why and the how of the numbers.

𝗚𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁... 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.

Some had noticed these cards... 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘇 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗹𝗮𝗯𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝘇𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 - it made the meeting more open, safe and welcoming.

[note: a futuristic story we see happening in the future]. Check www.wiztalks.com for our amazing deck of cards that can be used by managers and leaders too.

#leadership #managers #facilitation #groupwork #facilitator #teams #groupwisdom #conversations