100 minutes (15 minutes to prepare personal stories; 45 minutes in triads; 10 minutes to record skills and values on flipchart; 30 minutes for large-group reports and debriefing)
Adaptable M–H P, T, D, M
1. To use personal stories to help team members learn about strengths and values of other team members
2. To facilitate the formation of a positive foundation for team member relationships
3. To identify “best practices” within the team
• Paper and pencils
• Flipchart and marking pens
1. Introduce the activity by telling participants that they will all share stories that reflect their personal and professional strengths and core values. Core values may be explicit or implicit within the story.
2. Ask participants to take a few minutes to think of several experiences from their personal or professional life where they felt particularly good about both the event and their own role in it. Ask them to select one of those events and prepare to tell others a story about it. The story should include as much detail as possible and should specifically address the following questions:
• What was the general purpose of the event?
• Were there obstacles you needed to overcome?
• What motivated you to invest your energy and time in this event?
• How were you able to accomplish your goal?
• Were there surprises along the way?
• What did you learn about yourself? About others?
• How did you feel at the time? How do you feel now?
• How has this experience influenced your belief about yourself/your abilities?
3. Place participants in groups of three. Tell the groups they will have 45 minutes, during which time each individual is to tell his or her story and receive feedback from the group. Remind groups to manage their time so that no individual dominates.
Note: If there is a mix of older and newer members on the team, be sure to have a mix of new and old members in each of the small groups.
4. Tell the groups that as they are listening to each speaker, they are to make two lists: (1) skills or talents they hear the individual describing during the story being shared and (2) values they hear the storyteller revealing, either implicitly or explicitly. Listeners will then review their lists and identify three skills and three core values they heard reflected in the story. Each listener will share their three strengths and three values with the storyteller. Make it clear that every listener is to share his or her list even if it repeats others; these repetitions are expected. It is important for the speaker to hear from each group member. After listeners have shared, the speaker is given an opportunity to respond to the feedback by answering these questions:
• Do you agree with the skills identified?
• How do you feel those skills are utilized in this work team?
• Do you agree with the values identified?
• How do you feel those values are acknowledged in the work team?
Each group member follows this pattern until all members have had the opportunity to share their story with the others.
5. While the groups are telling their stories, prepare two newsprint sheets for team members to record their compilation of skills and values. Label one sheet “Skills” and the other, “Values.”
6. Next, ask the small groups to identify all of the skills and values from their three stories. Ask the group to select one member from each small group to record their collection of skills and values on the newsprint sheets.
7. Reconvene the larger group and examine the lists of skills and values, then have the participants answer the following questions:
• Given this information about our skills and values, what conclusions can we draw about our team’s best practices? That is, how can we maximize the use of our skills and values?
• Which of these listed skills are a good match with the responsibilities of our team?
• Are there skills we need that we don’t have enough of? If so, how might we obtain them?
• Are there skills that we have an abundance of? If so, how can we avoid competing to use those skills?
• Do we share many values, according to this list? How could this impact our team work?
• If there are inconsistent or competing values, how can we operate to allow both values to exist?
• Are there values listed that could be detrimental to the team’s performance? If so, how might we manage that?
1. How did you feel initially when you heard about the activity? How did you feel as the small group was forming?
2. How did you feel when you found out you had to choose an event and share it?
3. How do you feel now that the activity has been completed? What values did you see demonstrated by other group members as they participated?
4. Which actions or behaviors were helpful to you as you worked with the small group? Were there actions or behaviors that interfered with your group participation?
5. Which of your own values apply to this situation?
6. What have you learned from your experience today?
7. How could you apply information from this experience to your work life?
1. Individuals bring their strengths and values to the group and to their organizations.
2. Sharing personal stories (and strengths and values) can enhance our understanding of one another and our working relationships.
3. Participants are better able to remember others’ core strengths through the shared stories.
4. Reflective feedback reinforces core strengths and fosters collegial relationships.
5. Information about strengths and values can be used to strengthen team processes.
Adapted from Dr. Kristine Sullivan’s presentation on Dr. Bernard Haldane’s Dependable Strengths Process, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington, 1999.