Bring the outside in

Yesterday, someone asked my advice about ice breakers for an away day she's running. Many people's hearts sink at the idea of an ice breaker but there does need to be some activity or conversation that brings the participants together into the room, mentally as well as physically.

Once I had to go to an away day with my senior management team colleagues, all people I worked with closely every day and had really strong relationships with. But there was loads of stressful stuff going on back at the office (so stressful I couldn’t even tell you what any of it was about now!) and it really clouded how I felt about the day. It took me an hour or two to feel properly present in the meeting. To begin with, I even felt a little angry that we were wasting time that could be better spent. If there had been a few minutes to share what was going on for each of us at the beginning of the meeting so we could let it go for a few hours, I think that would have really helped.

I facilitated a strategy session recently for The Menopause Charity's board of trustees and I spent a happy hour or so the weekend before cutting pictures out of old copies of The Byline Times, The Garden, and the National Trust magazine.

At the beginning of the meeting I spread the pictures out on the table and asked everyone to pick a picture that represented something that's going on for them at the moment and talk about why they'd chosen it. The mere activity of choosing a picture led to an opening up of discussion. What was Nigel Farage doing in there? That's a beautiful rose. When it came to explaining their picture choices, people really opened up about things that were happening for them, some quite difficult and stressful. And, in that moment of sharing, those things could be held and paused for a few hours while we moved on to some really rich discussions about the charity's successes, challenges and ambitions for the future.

I think the pandemic taught us something really helpful about outside-work-life's presence within and alongside work life. Many teams introduced brief check ins at the start of their meetings so they could share how things were going. I know lots of teams have kept this going which is really important.

I’ve often thought it would also be massively helpful if we knew more about people’s back stories and outside work stories rather than just their workplace personas. People who knew me at VSO and CLIC Sargent will know me as a fundraiser. Colleagues who knew me at Lambeth Council will think of me as Cabinet Lead for Health and Adult Social Care, Chair of Children’s scrutiny or a local politician representing the good people of Stockwell.

How do we make it easier and more normal to talk about what’s gone before, about the whole person, not just the role they’re playing today?

I was on BBC Midlands Today last Friday, representing Better Streets for Birmingham, campaigning for safe streets for everyone, and discussing Birmingham City Council's road safety emergency.

You can watch here.

And RIP, Ozzy Osbourne.

Loved this tribute by the CBSO at New Street Station under the watchful eye of big Ozzy the bull.

Useful links 🔗

Last week the UK Government launched its new covenant for its relationship with Civil Society.

More here.

Day of the Week 📆

It's 100 years since a landmark legal case, the Scopes trial, dubbed the “trial of the century” took place in Dayton, Tennessee.

The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union to challenge the Butler Act, a Tennessee law banning the teaching of evolution in public schools.

The trial centred on whether high school teacher, John Scopes, broke the law by teaching the Darwinian theory of human origins and shone a light on issues that are still relevant today.

What am I reading? 📚

I'm not on holiday but if I was, I'd enjoy the Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon, feel-good story about second chances.

What am I watching? 👀

The Great British Sewing Bee is back - hooray!

What am I listening to?👂

I found this podcast, Cultural blind spots in transport, really interesting. Topics include the psychology of pavement parking and how SUVs are taking over.

A fascinating point made was that car dealers are no longer sellers of cars, they've become sellers of finance. Ouch.

Joy-giving things 😍

I didn't know whether to choose Michelle Agyemang's 96th minute equaliser in the Women's Euros game against Italy or Chloe Kelly's penalty run up and follow up. Best of luck on Sunday to the Lionesses!

Have a great weekend

Lucy

If it’s your first time reading this newsletter, find out more about me here.

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world, particularly in the workplace.

Share it with your friends so they can read it too 📣

ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

If you like what you read and you'd like to show your appreciation in cash, you can do that here. Thank you so much!