Most organisations underestimate the influence of emotions on their culture and leadership… Not us!
At BIM&CO, we held our first “Culture Workshop” during the annual Boost Week 2021, inspired by the Emotional Culture Workshop created by ridersandelephants.com.
In the Riders&Elephants emotional culture workshop, psychologist Jonathan Haidt presents a useful analogy for thinking about behavioural change. He argues that we all have two sides: our emotional side (representing the elephant), and our analytical and rational side (representing the rider).
Based on this analogy, we designed the workshop to build empathy, create bonds and accentuate trust within the team.
The objective of this workshop was to bring out what team members really feel, what motivates them in their daily work or, and on the other hand, what they definitely don’t want to find within the company. Everyone was able give free rein to their ideas without holding back, to think about who we are.
Through this workshop, we wanted to raise themes to bring improvement to areas of life in the company. This has allowed us to refocus on what is really important, on what we want to be and what we want to pass on.
Focusing on the emotions of its employees enables BIM&CO to determine the values that are truly experienced on a daily basis. Everyone can then develop in an environment where emotions have been defined as important for all employees.
We are convinced that the human element is the priority in the company. It is essential to place it at the heart of our actions, to develop our skills and build the future of the company together.
Camille, UX/UI Designer at BIM&CO shares his vision of the Culture Workshop and the spirit of BIM&CO with us.
- What did you think of the Culture Workshop?
I found the workshop extremely rewarding, sometimes even overwhelming!
It highlighted the fact that we are all building a project together, viewed differently by each of us, but which must move forward in the same direction. I loved the workshop!
- Do you think this will change anything in particular within BIM&CO?
Yes, things are certainly going to change within BIM&CO, especially in this particular context where it’s becoming more complicated to maintain bonds between us and to understand one another… Now we know that in spite of distance, trust and empathy are stronger than ever!
- What did you like most about these workshops?
I really enjoyed seeing the company as other people see it. Everyone shared their vision through the emotions they felt, which enabled us to strengthen our team spirit.
- What do you think was the most important thing to come out of this workshop?
At the end of this workshop, we realised that employees need to be reassured.
At BIM&CO, we don’t want a culture of bullying to become established and this is what we want to continue to respect in the future. Communication and kindness within the team are essential aspects in the company in order to carry out our actions successfully.
We have determined which emotions encourage us on a daily basis. What emerged was curiosity, commitment and boldness. On the other hand, what we no longer want to feel at work is uncertainty, helplessness or the need to be defensive.
Steps have been taken at BIM&CO to ensure that we preserve the emotions that are important to us on a daily basis, but also to welcome negative emotions with hindsight and ensure through our routines that they arise as little as possible. We want to build a solid foundation for the acceleration that we will experience in the years to come.
- What do you think is the key part to being effective as a team?
Feedback – the willingness to continually learn from our mistakes, but also to create a culture where people are listened to. You can’t improve without feedback from others. This gives a complete overview of the situation.
“Alone we go faster, together we go further.”
The thing that reassured me personally is knowing that each of us has the space to create our own role, put forward ideas and make decisions on the issues for which we are responsible.
Each member of the team has a part to play, but each of us can have a rewarding outlook on the tune the others are playing.