How To Engage A Virtual Team – Visualizing Values Activity

How to Engage a Virtual Team: Visualizing Values Activity

Use Objects or Images to Share What Matters to You and Your Team

In this chapter, I’m going to teach you about an activity called Visualizing Values. 

You can read on and learn how to lead this activity with your team or class. Or you can jump ahead to the Getting Started section, where I actually write a narrative, framing and directions for the activity as if I was leading the exercise for your group. You can watch me lead this virtually at www.weand.me/engage.

This activity works great whether you have a team of four, 40 or 400 people. I would just say that as you get to larger group sizes, like for a virtual conference, you definitely want to weave in intentional breakout time.

The Visualizing Values exercise comes from the We! Engage Cards we created, though you don’t have to have the deck to do the activity. The deck has 50 cards with images on one side and quotes on the other. The cards are a really practical resource to help you visually engage your team virtually or in person. 

You can facilitate the exercise with one deck for yourself, or if everyone in your group has We! Engage Cards, they can all use their cards to participate. That’s a cool way to connect when everyone has a deck of their own that they can use. That said, it might not be reasonable for you to get a We! Engage deck for everybody. So as an alternative to the cards, anytime I suggest choosing an image, you can invite your group to choose an object instead. In fact, as I narrate this exercise, I’ll suggest choosing an image or an object. 

Now, we’re ready to go. Below in italics is the actual phrasing I might use when speaking to a group to help frame and lead this exercise. In between, there are some facilitator notes that offer helpful variations and ideas as well. 

Getting Started

Alright, let’s jump in! We’re going to spend a quick minute visualizing values. The reason I want to do this is because “values are like fingerprints,” as Elvis Presley once said. Everybody’s values (and fingerprints) are unique, and we leave them all over everything that we do.

Given that, there’s immense value in connecting to what we value. We prioritize what’s important to us. When the word “priority” came into the English language, it was singular. Just one priority. Not priorities. But today we’re living in a culture where we have way too much to do and too little time. You might feel multiple items are vying for the first spot on your list. We have so many competing priorities, it can be overwhelming.

Oftentimes we focus on everything we have to do. But we neglect to understand why we’re doing what we do. We don’t connect to the underlying values that shape what we create and build as a group.

What I’d love for you to do is to take a moment. Choose an image or an object that represents a value you hold. This should be something that’s really important to you as a member of your team. This isn’t an object that’s just of value to you, like a picture of your family. Instead, we’re talking about choosing an image or object you can use as a metaphor for something you value.

Visuals tend to get encoded into long-term memory. They stick. Six months from now, you’ll recall some of the visuals from this exercise. Whereas a simple conversation about values is more likely to flutter away after a quick stay in our short-term memory. 

Note: As the facilitator, share an example. Imagine I’m holding up an image of a fortune cookie. 

In this case, I really value looking ahead and actively creating the future. On the other hand, I don’t just want to be a victim of whatever is written on the inside of a fortune cookie. In regards to how this relates to the group, I might say, I think actively creating a vision is important for this team. If we just let ourselves get disrupted, rather than being the disrupters, we might not be around for long.

You can see, in that example, how I’m sharing a value I have paired with an image. Now, in a moment, I want you to go on a virtual scavenger hunt to find an object that represents a value you have. If you have the deck of We! Engage Cards lying around, feel free to just choose an image instead for this.

You’ve got 60 seconds. Ready, set, go!

Alright, now you have your image or object. Go ahead and hold it up to your camera to share it with your group. Look around in gallery view to see what people chose. Discuss what you brought back and how it relates to something you value as a group. 

If you’re a smaller team, feel free to go around the group. Not sure where to start? I believe that going in alphabetical order saves lives in virtual breakout rooms. At the very least this prevents awkward stumbling and wasted time. Try going in alphabetical order by first name, instead of fighting over who goes first, or next.

If you’re a bigger crew (larger than seven people), I’d highly recommend doing breakouts. 

Remember that the way we listen often changes what people say. Don’t worry about what you’re going to share. Be totally tuned into what your group members are saying. 

This exercise and others like it are all about disrupting your normal flow and getting out of the routine. By mixing things up in an intentional, purposeful way, you can increase engagement and connection within your virtual team.