Step 1 - Announce: Block out a half day in the afternoon on a Wednesday or Thursday two weeks in advance, so your team members can clear their calendars and give the workshop their undivided attention. Note: Monday and Tuesday are usually too busy, and most people will fade out after lunchtime on Friday. Here's an email script you can use:
Subject: Action required: Strengths workshop
Hi [team name]
On x date at x time, the entire CS team will attend a hands-on strengths workshop. You're probably wondering - what are strengths? Here's a brief summary:
The research institute Gallup conducted thousands of interviews over 40 years to understand what makes a high-performing team. Their research found that "the highest performing teams have individuals in roles that maximize their strengths."
We're going to spend the afternoon bringing awareness to each other's strengths. The session will be a blast, and I promise - there won't be any Powerpoint presentations.
Next steps:
If you have a calendar conflict or customer meeting at the time and date I've mentioned above, please let me know. It's vital that every team member attends.
Step 2 - The nudge: Three days before your workshop, remind each team member to take the strengths assessment, print out their individual results and familiarize themselves with the theme descriptions. Some of them might have missed the email or forgotten the task.
Step 3 - Prepare: Print multiple copies of the 34 strengths theme descriptions. If you have ten people in the workshop, you'll need five copies of the strengths descriptions. Print one copy of the strengths workbook per attendee. Print one copy of the strengths workshop facilitator guide.
Step 4 - Set expectations: When you start the workshop, set clear expectations with the team. No-one should be on their laptop or phone during the session. If there is an emergency, they can leave the room to deal with it, but otherwise, all participants are expected to give the other participants their undivided attention.
Step 5 - Set the tone: Kick off the workshop with a personal story about your experience with strengths, why they are important and how they will take on different meanings with different people. Further, share a personal example of the awareness that strengths have helped you bring to yourself and how you will or have made changes in your life because of this.
Step 6 - Run the workshop: This is where the magic happens! Pair your team members up and have them work through the questions below.
We will conduct the workshop in an interview style, where one member asks the other member questions and takes notes. If you have enough time to get through the top five strengths for each team member, that's great. Otherwise, advise the team to take turns every 15 minutes. The questions they will ask each other are:
Q1: "What is your number X strength?"
Q2: "How true is this strength of me? How accurate is this?"
Q3: "How has this strength served me well in my role as a CSM?"
Q4: "How has this strength not served me well in my role as a
CSM?"
Q5: "How can I flex this strength in my role as a CSM in the next
month?"
Q6: "Do you have any other observations about this strength?"
It's important to capture the 'extras' and have someone write them down, instead of just pushing through the process. These can be first-hand experiences or counterpoints to why the strength doesn't perfectly fit.
Step 7 - Regroup: Once you've gone through the exercise, bring the team together for a group discussion. Specifically, call out each team member to share one thing they learned about their partner. The result will be a vibrant reflection, with each team member feeling recognized and heard.
Strengths are not a 'one and done' effort.
As a leader, it's your responsibility to steer the conversation and keep the discussion going among your team. Next up, we'll share some risks of not following through with strengths.