According to research, we spend the equivalent of 11.5 years at work in a lifetime, but how well do we know our co-workers, their dreams, their passion, their story, etc.? When colleagues don’t get along or don’t work well together, could it simply be that they don’t really know each other?
In our experience it’s not unusual, when interviewing executives ahead of a leadership team off site, to hear these individuals express a real desire to get to know their fellow co-workers better in order to foster stronger collaboration (cross country or Business Unit). Experts point out that really knowing one’s colleagues, boss and reports at the workplace (and appreciating them!) can make work much more satisfying.
For George Kohlrieser, professor at IMD, managing emotions is how you build a team and organization: “It’s about dealing with emotions, building high emotions and creating an inspired team. So it’s essential for leaders to understand how team bonding works, and how bonding in a team will build energy”
Our conscious thoughts comprise some 10% of our cognitive processing. This means that the other 90% of our “thinking” arise from our subconscious thoughts and assumptions that we are processing internally or “below the surface”. Below the surface is our inner world, a container of experience and wisdom that we have accumulated over time and that we don’t easily reveal to friends and colleagues.
One activity which we personally like and which allows exploration beneath the surface is called “Self-Portrait” and consists of expressing life narratives through drawing. Each learner is given twenty to thirty minutes to draw their personal portrait around six dimensions.
These self-portraits are drawn on a flipchart and participants spend another 20-30 minutes each introducing themselves using their sketch. This activity creates a fun and safe space for participants to open up to each other and share more details about what makes them who they are and what values are important for them as individuals. In this transitional space participants get to understand where they each come from (their past), where they are in their life (their heads, heart, work and leisure) and where they want to go (the future).
By asking participants to use the right side of the brain (i.e. the imaginative part that uses feelings and fantasy) the self-portrait process surfaces deeper emotions that help move the intervention forward, bringing fun into the “team cohesion” process. Rediscovering this playfulness can be very fulfilling and help individuals draw out elements important for them in a simple way.
Moreover the use of Self-Portrait in Coaching can help create trust and overcome fears of opening up in a group context, it creates a sense of humility and supports individuals as they move from the rational to the emotional space.
Finally the self-portrait activity can easily replace self-assessment tools which at times can be very technical and not divulge fully one’s values and traits.
As an executive, going through this process, recently shared with us, “it’s one thing to show interest and concern for our fellow colleagues, but it’s another to enter their personal world where pain and contentment are intertwined, and this has really made me realise how little I knew my colleagues”.
