How we helped a mental health consultancy resolve workplace conflict

How does a small team resolve conflict and navigate the dynamics that can exist between team members?

Location: Woodland, South London
Group size: 5

How does a small team resolve conflicts that can exist between team members?

Mental health consultancy Luminate asked School of the Wild to help them resolve some difficult team dynamics that was causing others in the team to feel uncomfortable, and which was having a disproportionate effect on the company’s growth.

Our role was to find creative ways to support employees discuss their concerns
openly, hold space for people to have honest kind conversations that would improve relationships within the team, and help them get back to a positive working environment.

Who they are 
Luminate are a small close knit consultancy with a core team of five people. They work in a hybrid way, and together with a network of experienced coaches and counsellors, they run bespoke wellness training and mental health programmes to help businesses create happier, healthier workplaces.

Their context and challenges
The demand for mental health services from businesses has significantly increased in recent years, driven by a growing recognition of the importance of employee well-being and the impact of mental health on productivity. 

Given the increasing demand, Luminate experiences a lot of day-to-day pressure. As the wellbeing space is competitive, they also have a need to innovate to stay ahead of the game. This requires people to think creatively, communicate and work together well.

Luminate have a great culture, and people in the team are really kind but there has been some friction between two people who don't see eye to eye, affecting the others who feel that they have to be careful around them.

The CEO found it hard to navigate these team dynamics and to know what to do about it.

Aims and objectives
Conflict in teams can be a necessary stage in a team’s development, on the way to better collaboration and high performance - but if the conflict is not worked through and resolved, resentments, anxieties and other barriers to relationships can lead to dysfunctional patterns, and teams can get stuck there.  

This can be a problem especially for small teams and small organisations.

Luminate wanted the headspace that you get from being away from the office, and to spend time in Nature to come together as a team. They approached us to help. 

The outcomes they wanted from a team away day programme:

• for people to feel valued and heard,
• to have some open and honest conversations,
• to give feedback to each other whilst doing this respectfully,
• to go beyond the barriers that get in the way of healthy working relationships.

They wanted to leave the day feeling more cohesive as a team, with more trust and confidence in each other to be able to navigate any future disagreements, so that they could collaborate well, work together better and grow the business.

Our solution
Working within our Seed team building framework, we devised a bespoke one-day development programme in the woods in South London: a mix of facilitated exercises to help them connect, get to know each other better and build psychological safety; have meaningful and honest conversations around the fire; bring the tension out into the open in a kind and gentle way, and surface some tangible actions to help them work together better.

The day was framed around this question: "Given that we work in a high pressure environment - how do we support each other to feel more connected and pull together so that we thrive?"

What happened
It was an impactful and emotional day, full of rich and productive conversations. 

It was early July, and the weather was mixed - sunny and a bit damp - but that didn’t put anyone off. Based mostly under cover around a fire, we wove together activities that brought the Luminate team closer and led to reflective and meaningful conversations.

The activities created a space where they could all give each other lots of positive feedback, have deeper conversations, and find out where they have lots in common and how they're different - and they took a lot from that.
            
The two people who had been struggling reached some understanding, and their issue was spoken about openly using active listening and appreciation. This led to repair and reconciliation.

The activities we facilitated and employed included:

• meaningful icebreakers that revealed attitudes about feedback and conflict. For example, one person in the team felt more comfortable with conflict because it is present in their family, whilst another felt more careful because their family is less open. 

 

• an exploration of Cockman’s model of organisational life - which led to discussion about “what we’re good at, and what we’re not.”

 

• an activity designed to help them give each other feedback and be truthful in a kind way - they fully engaged and it led to honest conversations (and a few tears).
  
  
• a symbols exercise - to represent what it looks like when they are working together well: supporting each other, feeling connected and pulling together.
  
  
• appreciations - which led to a release of more emotion.
  
  
• pairs work in afternoon about what to start/stop/continue, which led to rich discussions and key takeaways.

Outcomes and results
​
The woods did their job. ​

Using an external facilitator in a natural setting

The group appreciated having the time out in Nature, and having an external facilitator. They talked, listened, and did non-work things together. There were lots of feelings during the day which the group handled in a supportive way. There was thinking differently, there was laughter, and togetherness. 

The takeaways they came up with as a group included:

• Being more open and honest with each other, 
• Making regular reflective space for talking about how they work together,
• Making meetings more intentional.

They also made some individual commitments including to:

• Speak up when something comes to mind,
• Reflecting first before reacting when receiving feedback.

They reached a shared understanding about ways to overcome not wanting to hurt each other, including giving and receiving feedback, and agreed actions about meetings. People left feeling connected and cohesive. They felt much closer as a team by the end.

What impact has the day had on the company?
Since the day, they have been working on:

• psychological safety, feedback and agreements
• more structured meetings - giving more space and thought to them and to dynamics

They are also aware that everyone has good intentions and want the best for each other.

Did the day achieve its aims?
Afterwards the CEO said: "it was a really great day, we took a lot from it. It was a start to repairing the friction and conflict that existed between the two team members. And I learnt how important team dynamics are to a high performing business."

What people said
“I learned more about my colleagues' feelings around work, their frustrations, their intentions, and how they're most comfortable communicating.”

“The day offered a forum to discuss things that we might not have felt appropriate, or found the right time or place to discuss otherwise.”

“the whole day was fantastic and I know the whole team got so much out of it... you knew how to move us on when needed or explore something further if there was value in it. We felt were in very safe hands and the day ran really smoothly... It was such a unique experience and I'm very grateful to have attended. It's the first time as a business we have attended a facilitated session and I now realise how important and valuable that is to us.“

Want something like this for your team?

Our mission at School of the Wild is to help organisations empower individuals, transform teams and learn to work together better, by inspiring a healthier and collaborative workplace culture. We believe that Nature brings out the best in people so we bring leaders and teams outside to help you reconnect and think differently.

Have a look at our outdoor team building away days, company offsites, and leadership team programme and get in touch for more information.