Building Constructive Interaction in a positive, but hesitant group.

As we know, Constructive Interaction interfaces with Trust, Respect and Camaraderie.

I am co-coaching a team where the team is high-high, but the Constructive Interaction is the lowest factor. When we listen to what the team is telling us, there are positive signs regarding Respect and Camaraderie, but it seems fragile rather than rock-solid. The voice of the team is ‘I’d like to know my colleagues better’, ‘not sharing enough’, and ‘I don’t know my colleagues on a personal level’.

This exercise builds the space to venture into new territory for the team through creative play and storytelling.

Using the Lego Serious Play method, the team are first shown how to construct a model and develop meaning in the model through the use of metaphor. They then build their model and the final step is for each team member to share their model/ story with each team member given the ‘floor’ – a democratic process.

The team are encouraged to construct a model that represents their personal view of the team profile and their individual relation to the team in respect of what needs to happen next. Each team member is given a limited amount of time to build.

The physical interaction in building the model produces a ‘hands-on, minds-on’ experience that deepens the reflection and the ability to tell deeper stories in the team. This in turn opens a space for the team to have deeper conversations – vulnerability leading to creativity and to constructive interactions.

As a by-product of the exercise, the models become physical symbols of the journey that the team are on together, serving as a form of identity and a reminder of the progress they are making.