Time required
Approximately 40 minutes, depending on group size.
Preparation
In advance of the meeting, send each participant the Identify your values worksheet | PDF.
Have your own top 3 values identified as well as the explanation of how and why you value them in your role. For example, if you value purpose it may be that you always need to know why you’re doing something not just how. If you value power, you need to feel that you have the authority, knowledge and resources available to do your job without someone looking over your shoulder.
Suggested wording
Our values impact all facets of our lives and the many roles we play such as friend, partner, parent or employee. Values shape our goals, behaviours, and how we react.
Values change over the course of our lifetimes, and may even differ between our various roles and responsibilities. The priorities we place on different values also vary over time.
It can be helpful to identify the workplace values that are important to you today, and contemplate how they relate to your goals as a team member. Articulating your core values can also serve as a valuable frame of reference for those inevitable moments where the values you hold dear are being compromised. When this happens, we’re likely to feel uncomfortable or agitated.
One example could be if I value quality of work and you value getting things done, we could clash when I think you’re moving too fast and you think I’m moving too slow. When we can recognize that neither of us are wrong, we just hold different values, we could collaborate to try to find the most effective way to reach a reasonable quality of work in the fastest time possible. This means we’re no longer fighting against each other’s values but trying to align with both. As we go around to share what we value in our role, please be thinking about how we can respect the values of our team members in our day-to-day work. I will start with my top value, and encourage you not to copy me but be honest about what your values are so that we can all learn.
[Name your top value and why you value them in your role. Then ask each of the participants to do the same.]
As I said in the beginning, values can change over time. So, we may do this activity again but the next time you see someone reacting defensively, ask yourself which of their values you may have stomped on. Because often this is what causes people to react emotionally to a request or statement.
Find more activities like this at Team building activities.