Team Workshop

Increasing Self-Awareness

Improve your mindset by increasing awareness

45-50 minutes

2-10 people

Remote & on-site

Background

In order to find out how we can improve ourselves, we need to be self-aware and know about our individual strengths and weaknesses. In many areas, self-awareness can contribute to self-improvement and our growth mindset.

Self-awareness means having a good knowledge and judgement about one’s feelings, thoughts and actions. To increase self awareness means to strengthen the ability to observe ourselves in everyday life and to get to know the patterns in which we think and act. Self awareness is the basis for reflecting our own mindset in different situations to change it if we like.

Team workshop instructions

Preparation

On Site: provide paper & pencil
Remote: Make sure everyone can make personal notes
Whiteboard

Check-In (5 minutes)

Welcome the team and introduce the workshop
Give an overview of the structure of the workshop

Overview: The team members reflect on different aspects of themselves.

Goal: Identifying typical thinking and acting patterns by reflecting on own thoughts and actions.

Step 1 (3 minutes)

Give the team members a minute to recall the last weeks at work: what they did, who they worked with, where they worked. (Just think of it, no need to write it down.)

Step 2 (8 minutes)

Present the following questions.
Let every team member answer the questions for themselves. As a part of the team, you do so too. Encourage them to be as honest as possible.
Everybody can make notes if they want.

Questions

I feel I am strong in the areas of _____.

I think I am weak in the areas of _____.

I learn best when I _____.

I feel the most stress when _____.

The thing I need the most help with is _____.

Step 3 (20 minutes)

Now start with the first question and let everyone tell, what they wrote down. Continue with the second one and so on.

Tip:

Make clear that this exercise is not about finding solutions for existing struggles. It’s also not about getting advice from the rest of the team on how to improve. It is about becoming aware of these aspects, gaining insights about oneself and being able to share it with the team without judgement.

Step 4 (6 minutes)

Ask the team members if they found an aspect of their list surprising, if they learned something new about themselves or found a pattern in their answers.

Step 5 (5 minutes)

Let the team reflect on how knowing these things about oneself can improve self-awareness and help them at work.

Ending (5 minutes)

Summarize the insights from this workshop. Explain how being self-aware can influence your mindset.

Example

“By reflecting on how we feel and think in different situations we are able to recognize similar situations in the future. This enables us to recognize thinking and acting patterns, the ones we like as well as the ones that hinder us. By identifying these patterns we can observe our own mindset and this is a crucial condition if we like to alter it.”

First Aid

Didn’t go as expected? Check out the following tips.

Some team members don’t like to share certain aspects.
First of all: everyone should feel comfortable doing this exercise, so don’t force anyone to answer.
Instead: reflect as a team what needs to change so everyone feels good sharing positive and negative insights.
Is your team quite new? Maybe start with a team-cohesion workshops first to get to know each other better (Link).
Do you sense a fear of being judged? Try one of our workshops improving trust in a team before you return to this workshop.
Still somebody doesn’t want to share anything? Respect the team member’s decision and decide what to do as a team. Maybe you can skip the question altogether or alter it.
The team keeps talking about improvement instead of reflection.
Interrupt the team members when they start to give advice on how to improve. Explain again why this exercise is just about reflecting and discus together what makes it hard to hold back advice and just listen.

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