HUMAN RESOURCES

• Organize a short team walk or coffee break to encourage conversation and camaraderie among team members who may not interact regularly with each other.
• Extend an invitation to leadership too.
• Consider hosting the walk quarterly or monthly during warm weather quarters.

Practice Types: movement, social-connectedness

Format Types: group

• Select a theme: favorite song, song that makes you happy or dance, is nostalgic, etc.
• Ask participants to share one song based on the selected theme and note responses.
• Create an online playlist (via Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music, etc.) based on responses and share with group within one week.
• Consider creating one playlist a quarter.

Practice Types: social-connectedness

Format Types: group

• End a meeting by asking participants to share one word that describes how they’re feeling in that moment.
• If virtual or hybrid: encourage participants to put response in chat.
• Consider noting responses and displaying them somewhere visible within the office or include electronically with follow-up materials, if applicable.

Practice Types: mindfulness, social-connectedness

Format Types: group

• This practice can be used to open or end a meeting.
• Provide 1 minute for each person to share something they’re proud of.
  • Can be a professional or personal accomplishment.
• Be mindful of the size of your audience and time available for the practice.
• Sharing is optional; allow participants the option to pass.

Practice Types: social-connectedness

Format Types: group

• This practice can range from 1-5 minutes (select the length).
• Materials: paper and pen or pencil.
• Doodling prompts:
  • Doodle something you see in your environment.
  • Pick a word that embodies a value and doodle what that looks like.
  • Doodle without lifting up your pen/pencil; doodle with one continuous line.
• Alternative practice: Coloring
  • For groups: requires pre-meeting preparation by informing your audience so they can have additional materials available: coloring page, markers, etc.
• Consider playing a song or ambient music in the background.

Download slide

Practice Types: mindfulness

Format Types: individual, group

• Take a moment to engage each of your five senses, one at a time, for this mindfulness practice.
• Take your time and notice:
  • Five things you can see.
  • Four things you can hear.
  • Three things you can touch.
  • Two things you can smell.
  • One thing you can taste.
• If being done virtually as a group, allow attendees to turn off camera.

Practice Types: mindfulness

Format Types: individual, group

• Choose a designated amount of time to turn off screens and physically step away.
• While away, do not engage with surrounding technology.
• Break ideas:
  • Get a glass of water or snack.
  • Step outside and get some fresh air.
  • Gaze out of window and see what you notice.
  •  Stretch.

• As a best practice, take a tech break daily on an individual basis and/or add as a permanent agenda item.

Practice Types: mindfulness

Format Types: individual, group

• Ask team members to describe how they are feeling at that moment in terms of the weather.
• Are they sunny? Stormy? Partly cloudy? They can use more than one word to capture their internal weather.
  • If someone is having a gloomy or cloudy day, ask them to write down one well-being practice they can do today to help improve their weather report. Sharing is optional.
• This exercise helps people become aware of and describe their emotions at any one point in time and is a less personal manner to assess mood.

Practice Types: mindfulness

Format Types: group

• Follow a short online seated mountain chair yoga video (3:22 min)
  • If done virtually, allow participants to turn camera off.
  • If done in-person, allow participants to spread out in order to have enough space.
• Try the other listed chair yoga practices on your own or at future meetings.

Practice Types: movement

Format Types: individual, group

• This practice can help assess a team or group's mood to begin or end a meeting, or as related to team news, updates or projects.
• Use red, yellow, blue and green squares to make a single square (example below), and draw and label the axes with unpleasant and pleasant and high energy and low energy:
  • Red: Unpleasant and high energy emotions (i.e. anger, anxiety)
  • Yellow: Pleasant and high energy emotions (i.e. excitement, joy)
  • Blue: Unpleasant and low energy emotions (i.e. boredom, sadness)
  • Green: Pleasant and low energy (i.e. serenity and satisfaction)
• As a team, add relevant emotion words to each quadrant as related to how you’re feeling at the moment.
• Ask each person to plot their feelings on the mood meter quadrants. Allow the capability to plot anonymously.
• Review plotted points and take note of the team’s overall mood. Discuss as needed.

Practice Types: social-connectedness

Format Types: group

• Select stretches (link to below picture), determine the amount of time you will hold each stretch and set a timer, if needed.
• For groups: Decide if you will lead stretches or engage in independent stretching.
  • For led stretching: demonstrate selected stretches and keep track of time.
  • For independent stretching: participants will select and hold stretches of choice. The facilitator will keep track of time and announce when time has elapsed.
  • If done virtually, allow participants to turn camera off.
  • If done in-person, allow participants to spread out in order to have enough space.

Remind participants to a take deep breath with each stretch.

Practice Types: movement

Format Types: individual, group

• This practice can help you reset before starting a task or meeting, or when ending a meeting.
• Get comfortable: close your eyes (optional), sit in a supported position and place both feet flat on the ground to help you feel grounded.
• Set a timer for 60 seconds.
• Begin by taking regular breaths and proceed to taking larger and deeper breaths.
• Focus on your breath as it travels through your body.
• If any thoughts or mind chatter occurs: acknowledge them, envision them “floating” away and return your focus to your breath.
• When you exhale try relaxing the muscles in your body, perhaps in your shoulders, jaw and/or face.
• After 60 seconds have passed, return your focus to the room or meeting.

Practice Types: mindfulness

Format Types: individual