POST COVID/LOCKDOWN CIRCLES

After lockdown, several organisations invited REF to host group meetings to discuss
returning to the workplace. The organisations needed for offices to open and this did not sit
well with everybody. In fact, there were strongly conflicting opinions. Some people were
very keen to come back to work and thought everyone felt the same. Others did not want to
stop working from home and thought everyone felt the same. The topic was swiftly in
danger of turning into a polarised, entrenched positioning of a ‘right/wrong’ debate.
In the first instance REF held a circle where everyone within the team voiced their own
thoughts and feelings about going back into the workplace. This immediately created a
space with multiple views and moved everyone away from right/wrong positioning. We
invite people to only talk from their own perspective and not their opinions on the
organisation. Key themes emerged from this conversation around safety and fairness.
We then looked at the underlying principles and needs of both the organisation and the
individuals that everyone could agree on.

During the problem-solving part we identified the key areas that needed to be adapted for
everyone to feel safe and supported. By the end of the meeting there was consensus about
a way forward that would work for everyone.

The critical part of circle work is that it is Fair Process, this does not mean it is decision
making by committee. The decision to open the offices had already been made. But it is an
opportunity to give everyone personal agency and be a part of making the space as effective
for individuals needs as possible.

Part of the expectation in circles is that everyone will speak up authentically and that it is a safe space for discussion. This is a challenge for some people as they will say that they do not feel they trust the safety of the space. But, as Brene Brown says, 'vulnerability doesn't follow trust, it precedes it'. We build trust through everyone being open and honest. We cannot wait for everyone else to provide the trust so that we can dive in — it is a mutual responsibility and everyone is accountable. Indeed, one participant's feedback in a circle was:

"It is the only meeting in my whole working career where everyone has been completely honest."