When coaching a business, I meet individually with the key team members to get their perspective on how the business is doing and determine what would make it better. Improving communication is a common response. “We just need to get on the same page” is a familiar phrase, or “The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing”.
The only way for people to know what is going on is to communicate, and it’s not just about business. Your employees and managers are people, and they have feelings that they would like to express. When a team of people learn to be open with each other, they work better together.
The WIFLE is a simple communication tool that helps create an open, happy, connected work culture. Here’s how it works. WIFLE stands for 'What I Feel Like Expressing'. It provides a time and place for each team member to express what is currently going on in their life, both at work and personally. Many managers believe that people should leave their emotions at the door when they come to work. The reality is that unexpressed emotion negatively impacts performance. The result of practicing WIFLE is increased teamwork and better results.
The rules for a WIFLE are as follows: Everyone sits where they can see everyone else. To begin the WIFLE, the leader asks an individual, ‘What do you feel like expressing?’ That person then can say whatever he or she feels like without interruption or reply. Each person must feel safe to express whatever he or she feels, or this is not effective. This is NOT a time for attacking, blaming or complaining, It is an opportunity for each team member to offer a simple expression of how they feel.
Once he or she has said what they are feeling, this person passes the WIFLE to another person asks them what they feel like expressing. When everyone has had their say (and only after everyone has finished) you ask if anyone has any ‘burnings’.
A burning is when someone feels they have been wrongly treated or misunderstood, and they want to provide other team members an opportunity to apologize or clarify what happened. If these sessions are conducted correctly, you will find your team begins to bond and relate to each other as humans at a deeper level.
It is important that their WIFLE not be a personal attack, but an opportunity to feel heard and understood. A regular practice of WIFLE creates an open environment for people to voice any concerns so changes can be made and progress can happen. You can try variations of the WIFLE, such as high-low. This is where each member expresses a high and a low for the week. Though this is all simple, if done with the purpose of demonstrating respect by listening to one another, it will improve team communication and relationships. Enjoy trying it out!
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