Reacting, Adapting and Growing in the Time of COVID-19

May 29, 2020 Leave a comment

Thank you to James Isaacs from whose exercise this blog post is adapted.

We are passing through one of the most disrupted periods in recorded business history.  There has never been anything like this.  Kudos to all who are still standing!

While there are glimmers of green shoots coming up around us, and the teasing possibility of “re-opening” from Shelter-in-Place, the cold hard reality is that these current recessionary conditions are going to persist for some time into the future.   Forum is the ideal place to talk through how we are reacting, adapting and growing in this time.

Each member prepares in advance to give a brief (5-7 minute) presentation using the following questions to stimulate their thinking.

Reacting – Since we last got together a month ago:

  • What was your best moment in reacting to something?
  • What was your worst moment?
  • What have you done that has worked best in reaction to something?
  • What have you done that has worked least well?
  • Was there some reaction that you would love to have a “do over” on?
  • What was a great decision you made?
  • Is there a decision that you are just not facing up to? Why are you avoiding the decision?

Adapting – Since we last got together a month ago:

  • What is something that you have changed in either how you operate your business, how your family is functioning, or how you act personally in relation to COVID-19 that shows healthy adaptation?

Growing  — Since we last got together a month ago:

  • How have you grown in the last month?
  • What is a strength or attribute you are showing that you didn’t before?
  • Starting with the axiom, “this might be the best work I ever do” under this stress, how have you shown some of your best work this last month?
  • What behavior, strength, attribute, tactic, strategy, attitude, motion, action, movement, etc. do you think you need to get through the next stage of this?

A few notes:

  • You do not have to respond to all questions. Respond to those that speak to you.
  • Feel free to use other approaches to express your thoughts and feelings.
  • Try to touch on your personal, family and business life.
  • Go for the 5%, your deepest feelings and issues which are most difficult to share outside of forum.

Allocate 2-3 minutes after each member’s presentation for others to resonate, notice, share experience, pose a thought-provoking question, or connect the dots between multiple members’ experiences.

Filed under Forum Exercises

Meeting in pairs to build deeper forum connections

May 27, 2020 Leave a comment

When we meet in person, we informally connect one-on-one during breaks, and can socialize over drinks and dinner afterwards.  When we are meeting virtually, the opportunities for casual, pairwise connections are almost non-existent.

To make up for that deficit, consider implementing this plan to encourage paired meet-ups between forum meetings:

  • Set up a round-robin schedule with pairs of members (plus one trio if you have an odd number in your forum). The pairs rotate after every regular forum meeting or on a monthly basis.
  • Pairs are asked to meet by whatever means works for them: a virtual “coffee” in Zoom; a conversation by phone, perhaps while each is going for a walk; or email, text or WhatsApp exchanges.
  • The plan can be left open-ended and flexible with no reporting back to the full forum, or each member can be asked to share one thing they learned about their partner at the next meeting.

Try this for a month or two, and then check-in with everyone on whether all would like to continue on a regular basis, or only as long as the forum is meeting virtually.

Filed under Building Forum Relationships

Masked and unmasked updates

May 8, 2020 Leave a comment

These days we all need to wear some kind of mask when we leave our homes and can’t socially distance from others. Forum, meeting on a virtual platform, is one place where we can take off both our physical and our “psychological” masks, be vulnerable and discuss what really matters.

Consider doing this combined icebreaker/update activity at your next virtual forum meeting:

  • MASKED: Please bring and show your favorite or usual mask, and tell its story (up to 1 minute each, go around the “table”)
  • UNMASKED: Take off the “mask” you are wearing in front of your colleagues, family, and/or self. How are you REALLY feeling at this time? What is the Most Important Thing you want to tell the rest of us? Can you be vulnerable with your fellow forum members, and can you ask for what you need? Up to 3 or 4 minutes each (depending on length of meeting and number of members).
  • NOTICING (Optional, 10 minutes): Members have one minute each to quickly notice what was said or unsaid, tone and body language, anything you resonated with by deeply listening. No dialogue, questions, judgment, or advice giving. Members will not have time and are not expected to comment on every other member’s update.

Note: It’s best to tell members in advance about this exercise so they can have their physical mask handy, and can reflect on the suggested update questions.

Credit: Thank you to Melissa Weiksnar for sharing this exercise.

Filed under Forum Exercises, Forum Tools