From our friends at Leadership + Design:

“The number one reason teams (remote or otherwise) fail is a lack of maintenance.” @RyanMBurke

How do we facilitate intentional opportunities to maintain relationships?  

At this week’s Grade-Level Team Leaders meeting (and then in subsequent team meetings), we started this way:

How might seemingly opposite or contrary forces
actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent?

Check-in: How are you entering this meeting?

Yin and Yang: I am  _______ and ________.

It was powerful. Some of the comments shared were

• • I am exhausted and encouraged.
  • I am stressed and strong.
  • I am tired and learning.
  • I am hopeful and heartened.
  • I am proud and struggling.

I regret not capturing all of the shared comments.

Now, everyone knows that my natural tendency is to lean toward tasks and sometimes I forego maintenance.  So, we did not linger in maintenance once everyone shared. Just as I was ready to send them off to small group meetings, Laura asked if she could make a comment.

She thanked us for the important check-in, the opportunity to say how she was, and the opportunity to listen to her teammates.  She reminded us that it is easy to assume everyone else has it together. She realized she is not alone. She felt known and heard.

We are a team: exhausted yet encouraged, stressed yet joyful, hopeful and heartened.

No one is alone in this struggle. Yet, it is easy to silently carry the weight of struggle and worry.

We are not failing.

It is okay to feel joy and sadness.

It is okay to feel exhausted and encouraged.

This is hard, and you are creative.

We are together and apart: complementary, interconnected, and interdependent.

I love you.

I miss you.

I genuinely want to know how you are.

Will you share in the comment below, on Twitter, or on Facebook?