How often do you place yourself into someone else’s shoes?
At TMS, we know this is not easy…but it is possible. And helpful!
Those of you who have received a Team Management Profile (TMP) will know that it all starts with self-awareness. Having a simple and practical language to explain how we see the world makes a difference too.
TMS accredited practitioners can facilitate awareness of self and others by running an activity called Spinning Around the Wheel. This energising and thought-provoking exercise helps people shift their perspective by asking them to physically and mentally step into each of the 8 different team roles in the Team Management Profiles.
The objective is to help teams understand, respect and value all of the roles. This exercise can generate a lot of discussion because people feel safe talking about roles and not necessarily identifying specific people (although one can naturally lead to the other).
Here is a quick guide to running this activity:
- After everyone has received their TMPs, place a large Team Management Wheel on the floor and ask everyone to stand behind their major role preference.
- Give everyone an opportunity to observe their distribution and comment on their strengths and weaknesses.
- After general discussions tell everyone you are going to challenge them by asking them to walk in the shoes of their lesser preferred roles.
- Begin to ask everyone to move around the wheel and answer a quick question. Below is an example of what a facilitator might say:
Other hypothetical questions you could ask in this activity:
- How might people in this role start a project?
- What might people here think about change?
- What might an email from this person look like?
- What would happen in a meeting if it was filled with people in this role only?
- What does this role suggest about how some people approach leadership?
- Consider this role, how might people approach interpersonal issues here?
This is a great exercise to challenge the assumptions people at work make about others. For example, the assumption that someone is trying to intentionally annoy you, when instead they just like to do things in a different way.
Well, there’s a quick guide to get you started! If you want to discuss any of these, please feel free to comment or email me.
Sarah Eqbal
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