5 team pulse-checking exercises: what works for public servants

People need simple and trustworthy channels to share how they’re doing. However, in the busyness and fog of daily responsibilities, it’s easy for frustrations and blockages to swell if they’re not spotted early. That’s why pulse-checks are vital for keeping track of how a team is doing and where to provide help.

If you’re looking for new ways to check in with your team, the Apolitical community has you covered.

We’ve collected suggestions from our community on how they’ve successfully shared wins, vented frustration and grown together as a team.

If you’ve come across an activity that has worked well for your team, let us know! Send your comments to discussion@apolitical.co.

1. Highs and lows — several contributors recommended naming “highs and lows” for each week as a speedy way to celebrate wins and acknowledge difficulties. It also allows a team to develop bonds of trust through humility and shared achievement.

2. Genie wish/Magic wand — understand what inspires or blocks your team members by asking them what — if they had one wish — they would change.

3. Post-it notes — post-it notes are the paper currency of collaborative brainstorming. They’re a great medium for understanding what people want to start, stop and continue.

4. GIF check-in — share how you’re feeling in a GIF, song or book title. For many people, humour is a comfortable way to honestly express their feelings. Here’s mine:

5. Flashmobs — wherever this contributor was working, please accept my application: “We started by secretly preparing a little ‘flashmob’ event where we performed a song about irritations at work. It was a kind and humorous rap performance by 10 people on the open floor where about 150 people were working together. It really became contagious and then colleagues started addressing obstacles, pressures, and tensions through all kinds of humorous skits like that once in a while and we started ‘collecting’ them and it became our floor ‘thing’. Looking back I have changed jobs three times after that, and yet those are the people I am still in touch with!”

Thanks to:

Participants on the Apolitical leading teams effectively in government course for sharing the creative ways they inject life into their team meetings.

(Picture Credit: Pexels)