Afternoon 👋,

Hope the week has gone well.

The other day I cracked open a new Strengths Team Grid template to start populating it with a client's information. Here's my bald head talking about it on LinkedIn.

Ooh, before we get going, if you'd like to listen to the audio version of this article I've linked to it below in google drive. I may or may not have chuckled and varied the script during recording.

Here it is for your 👂🏻👂🏻

Back to the grid and I'm just going to take you back a bit on it's use.

It's late January this year and we're 3 hours into a half-ish day team grid session. There's 8 of us in a U-shape and as I remember it, there's some delicious sun coming in through the windows.

This group already know their top strengths, I've debriefed with each of them their 34 Reports. We've discussed the trends we've identified across the team and also the teams who report to them.

As we've moved through the day, it's increasingly clear to the group how each of their strengths show up, where they see them in action and the joy it gives them when someone actually notices, but not only notices, they actually stop to say something about it.

I introduce the "Your Contribution" activity and one of my favourite moments of many in the day is about 15 minutes away...

"Your Contribution" is a simple sheet. You write down your top 5 strengths on one side and then pass the sheet to the person on your left. They then look at your strengths and write next to one of them where and when they have really appreciated the contribution you have made using it.

The pages move around the room. In silence and contemplation, each person adds their thoughts.

After a full rotation around the room, each person has their own sheet back in front of them. I ask, "if you're ok with it, can someone share one or two things they're the most proud of on this sheet" (and you know it doesn't matter how long you've been an adult in a meeting room, when you ask for volunteers there's always a bit of gaze avoidance).

One of them team pauses and says "Yep, I'll go."

They share that they've always felt that one of their top strengths called "harmony" has been a source of frustration to others across their career. That their positive focus on what a group can agree on and can move forward with often others have been annoyed by.

Turns out though it's what this team loves about them. They hold up their page and show there are four different and very specific examples where others have seen and experienced them bring harmony to a situation.

The group pause and grin at one another.

What I can also feel in the room which remains unsaid for a bit is "we wish we told you this more, we're glad we did now, it's what makes you (and what's unique about you) so crucial in our work together". Or words to that effect.

I let the moment rest in the room for a few seconds and then we move on to the next person. We get into a groove around the table and there's just a whole lotta joy and love in the room.

Team Grid. Noticing. Sharing. Appreciating one another.

It's a beautiful thing.

Now. You don't need to know the unique strengths of your team around you to be able to deliver some positive appreciative feedback. Of course it helps with the specific insights but maybe there's someone this arvo who you could drop a line to, send a txt to, with how they've contributed to the outcomes in your week.

It could be as easy as a "thanks for ......, it's really helped me to......"

Maybe no one else has given them that feedback this week.

Have a ripper weekend.

Nick

0418 870 184

p.s. Gallup data shows that teams who receive meaningful feedback from their manager (read strengths focussed) have four times the lift in engagement in their work. Read the full article here:

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/505370/great-manager-important-habit.aspx

p.p.s. If you want to know more about Harmony as a strength, here's a the short definition on youtube:

Harmony | Clifton Strengths Theme Definition