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Put Down Our Masks

An incident came up earlier this week that one of my teams needed to handle quickly. We called an ad-hoc meeting, and everyone gathered on Zoom. Fortunately, the team has a pretty high level of trust, so people could use the Centering Skill of Noticing Myself and share with the group what was going on for them before we started the agenda for the meeting. One person had a headache, and another was also sick. After we wished them a speedy recovery, we moved on with the meeting. 

The first part of the meeting went well, and we resolved the urgent question. However, as the meeting dragged on, the sick people started arguing. Then, the person with the headache reminded the group he wasn’t feeling well and left quickly. The other sick person also left immediately after. 

This is where the power of Noticing Myself and the Collaborating Skill of Noticing Group became evident.  Instead of getting angry at how the meeting devolved, we gave the sick people some grace. They had told us they were not feeling well, yet we kept the meeting going too long. Upon reflection, it was kind of them to show up in the first place since we needed their expertise. The next day, the two sick people apologized, and we all got back on track. 

Too often, we are taught to believe that we need to put on masks and present the “perfect face,” especially in the workplace. Yet, when we Notice ourselves and share what is happening, we can be authentic with each other. Our team’s collaboration worked much better because of this authenticity. It supported our Group Resilience: our ability to maintain vision, purpose, and engagement when meeting collective challenges. Strong Group Resilience maximizes everyone’s contributions and gains the best outcomes!

With Resilience, 

Meri and the Dovetail Team 

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