Workplace Wars
Here’s how we helped a team bridge deep divisions by reconnecting through their shared experiences.
Challenges
The team faced growing tension and misalignment over differing views on remote versus in-office work. What seemed like surface value preferences actually reflected deep personal beliefs for these team members. Employees felt their values and identity were being challenged, which pushed them into threat mode and exhibited strong physiological and emotional reactions.
Objectives
Discover Core Values and Identity
Rediscover the teams' personal and professional identities and values.
Enhance Self-Regulation
Discover ways to respond to stress in the workplace effectively when faced with situations that prompted frustrated, emotional responses.
Identify Triggers
Understand what triggers intense reactions amongst team members and how it feels in their body.
Improve Team Awareness and Connection
Encourage empathy by revealing that what feels like moral division often arises from similar sensations and stress responses in the body.
Our Solution
1
Explored how interoceptive awareness allows us to tap into the continuous brain-body conversation that influences all of our human processes like thoughts, emotions, mindsets, well-being, decision-making, and more.
2
Discussed what 'real' recovery looks like in our bodies and how to first identify the first signs of stress within them.
3
Distinguished what unhelpful vs helpful stress levels looks like for each of us, and how to modulate stress to work to our advantage instead of taking over.
4
Practiced regular role-playing scenarios that enhanced self-regulation skills when faced with intense, seemingly 'value-challenging' situations arose in the workplace.
The Outcome
Post-training and coaching questionnaires showed a 68% increase (on average between the various groups) in their ability to detect early signs of stress and to self-regulate
We observed (on average) a 72% increase in a sense of psychological safety and trust among the team members.
Self-reports indicated more adaptability, more empathy, and perspective shifting.