How to structure a team reflection session
What you need
Book a specific date (don’t postpone it indefinitely!)
Get your team together for 1–2 hours
Have one of your teammates be a facilitator to mediate and lead
Digital or analogue papers/Post-it Notes
Introduction
Due to the current situation, a lot of teams are forced to modify and adapt to remote working. Their structures and processes will be put to the test, especially when it comes to their teamwork and communication skills but it’s more important than ever to be open, honest and be as supportive as possible; to be thankful and lift one another.
This guide will inspire and structure you to reflect and improve in the way you and your team collaborate. The session will build cohesion and bring the team closer together, by pausing and reflecting on how they feel.
Identify the highs and lows
It’s normal to reflect on what’s needed to be improved but one of the mistakes we can make is to not give each other credit for the things we’ve already achieved!
Have your team individually draw a table on a piece of paper and split it into 2:
Highs (things that lifted or helped you)
Lows (things that were heavy/brought you down)
With the table as a guide, have your team quietly spend 10min individually to reflect and write a list of highs and lows that happened in the last month. It’s important, to be honest with yourself and with your teammates.
After the team is ready, ask everyone to share their highs and lows and explain why they felt that way. The facilitator should take notes, encourage participation, and become the mediator when the going gets tough.
Discuss and set intentions
Now that the team has debated on the highs and lows, things can get a little up in the clouds, so let’s set a structure on the things we want to keep doing and things to improve on for each high and low.
When discussing the highs:
What are the similarities and differences?
Why did it bring out positive outcomes?
How can we maintain it?
When discussing the lows:
What are the similarities and differences?
Why did it bring us down?
How can we change to stop it from happening again?
Get Conclusions
Now that you’ve identified your highs and lows and have found ways to improve your teamwork, gain conclusions on the things to plan and take action on the things the team agrees to commit to. Never forget to write them down!
Say thanks
Before ending the session, have each of your team members write something that they’re thankful for from the reflection session and share it with the team. This will help keep the session a little lighter if the previous exercises were heavy and will bring back to the reasons why they’re together as a team.
It’s been a pleasure guiding you through your reflection session!
If you’re interested in diving deeper on reflecting with your teams, check out our series of Reflection Cards — a simple and direct tool focused on helping teams spot and talk about problems in a visible and debatable manner.
