A training session that starts with quiz and ends with a quiz.
A weekly team meeting that begins with everyone sharing their business “best” from the last week.
A Forum or peer group meeting that begins with an icebreaker.
Beginning a meetings with three deep centering breaths.
Ending your meetings with participants rating the meeting and proving one idea that would have made the meeting one point higher for them.
These are all examples of rituals - a series of actions or types of behavior regularly and invariably followed by someone - and are an often overlooked and undervalued aspect of business and peer group meetings. While we normally attribute rituals to religious ceremonies and holidays, they can have a profound impact on team building and efficacy.
A Sense of Familiarity and Safety + Connection to a Purpose = Performance. Using rituals to begin and end your meetings creates familiarity. Familiarity leads to safety (think about the comfort felt when attending a holiday or family celebration that has had the same activities year-after-year). Safety allows people to be more vulnerable which leads to team members being more invested in their teammates successes and being willing to take greater risks. If I am vested in your success, I will help more; and willingness to take risks leads to more innovative ideas and solutions. Both of which leads to greater performance.
What rituals do you already have? What rituals fit with the purpose of your team that you can put into place?
“Ritual is important to us as human beings. It ties us to our traditions and our histories.” - Miller Williams
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” - Vincent Van Gogh
Bonus points for those that figured out that one of my blog rituals is posting relevant and fun quotes!
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