Permission Slips to Build Trust at the Beginning of a Team Session

[Lori Auten]

The Permission Slip exercise comes from Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead courage-building program, and I use this with every team at the beginning of the session. Ask each person to answer this question on a sticky note: “What do you need to give your permission to say or do (or not say or do) so that you can fully show up for today’s session?” Some possible answers may be:
– Give myself permission to speak up
– Give myself permission to listen instead of talk
– Ask questions, even if I think others may think they’re dumb questions
– Extend the most generous assumptions about others’ intentions
– Give myself permission to “pass” when asked to share

This exercise can be debriefed by asking people to volunteer to share theirs. I also find it helpful to remind people to review their permission slips during the session, especially if the team is tackling a difficult topic.

[Author]

Posts