Have you read anything by ex-VP of Twitter in Europe, Bruce Daisley? Daisley left Twitter well before Elon Musk bought it, and is now writing and consulting on workplace culture. At a culture conference I attended a few weeks ago, Bruce spoke about resilience, and about gentle moments of connection and shared joy as ways to build a strong cohesive culture in hybrid workplaces. Something he said really struck me: the best way to build cohesion in a team is when we become human in each others’ company. "This is the way to do our best work together," he said. This really resonated. Our experience at School of the Wild - and backed up by the research - shows that you’re never more human than when you’re in Nature. Bringing your team into Nature can reduce barriers that come up in the workplace, promote a cohesive team culture, and boost creative thinking and confidence. If you’re looking for a way to reset and reconnect your team, I’m convinced nothing is as powerful as shared moments outside in the wild. For example, we worked with a team of 20 people from a large charity where there had been a lot of conflict in the team. Sub teams worked out of several locations, there were arguments and disagreements about working conditions. Managers had left and new people had not taken up post yet. Change to the way things had been done was resisted. Over the course of a day in the woods, people relaxed with each other, got to know each other better and opened up. People who usually clashed reached a different understanding. They were happy to spend time together and respectful. They felt valued. There were rich and insightful learning and takeaways including an awareness of shared values and team strengths, actionable ideas for ways to work together better, and an understanding of ways to make tasks easier and more fun. The L&D manager said “it feels like a turning point for the team.” How do you create the right conditions for this? Our Seed programme is a whole day in Nature that starts around the campfire. It weaves together business priorities, team building activities and an inclusive workshop that is designed to enable all voices to come up with insights and tangible actions. The whole experience is based around the outcomes you need: which could be to connect silos, improve communication, or simply to work together better. Whatever the weather, now is the perfect time to take your team outdoors to be more human and build a more cohesive team culture together. Learn more about our team building programmes here. /
I learnt more about the people I work with in a few hours than I have in my first 5 months of being at the company
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Author & CuratorNigel Berman is the founder of School of the Wild. Archives
March 2024
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