Spin Your Web

One of my favorite activities to do with teams starts by handing out a list of values (trust, respect, humor, autonomy, etc.) Each participant 1) circles the four that are most important to them 2) next to each value, writes the emotion they experience when that value isn’t being met 3) next to each emotion, they write the behavior that follows. Examples include: stop trying, yell, cry, disengage, and even “find a new job”. Then I ask everyone to form a circle and I hand a ball of yarn to someone. They share one of their values, along with the corresponding emotion and behavior. The ball of yarn goes back and forth haphazardly across the circle as each person takes a turn, holding onto their thread until they’ve formed a web between them. “This web represents effective communication. It is the connective tissue that allows your team to achieve your goals. If you wrote down something like “shut down” as one of the behaviors you exhibit when a critical value isn’t being met, please release the yarn in your hand.” The web crumbles. Shutting down is the response I hear most often during this exercise. It has dire consequences to your team’s morale, productivity, and ability to innovate when people stop contributing. And it’s almost entirely avoidable. Know your team. Spin your web.

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