Practising What We Preach: Inside Our 'Big Check-In'
Groupwork Centre team members recently stepped away from their daily delivery to hold an in-person "Big Check-In," reconnecting with their core purpose and reviewing foundational living documents.
Sitting in a circle, looking back at the sweeping view of our work and bedrock principles.
At Groupwork Centre, we spend our days supporting organisations to navigate complexity, build collaborative cultures and tend to the work between us. Recently, we realised it was time to step out of our day-to-day delivery and do this vital work for ourselves.
Last July, our team gathered in person for what we called our ‘Big Check-In’. It was a dedicated day to look at both the "eagle view" of our purpose and the "bedrock view" of our foundational practices.
We reconnected with our core purpose while intentionally shaping how we work together.
What We Co-Created
Co-creating our shared agreements, values, and principles.
For those curious about how a team of facilitators facilitates themselves, here is a glimpse into the living documents we reviewed and developed to guide our collaboration:
Working Together Agreements: We checked in on our existing agreements and intentionally added two new ones to reflect where our team is today.
Living Systems Map & Foundational Wisdoms: We reconnected with our core Practice Framework, capturing feedback on how it has naturally evolved over the past six months.
Draft Operating Principles: We collaboratively drafted these principles, which we will trial in our daily work and formally review at our team retreat later this year.
Associate Value Proposition: We explored the shared needs between Groupwork Centre and our incredible network of Associates to ensure our ongoing relationship remains thriving, generative, and reciprocal.
Rhythms & Rituals: We established the regular touchpoints and practices we will use to ground ourselves as we reset for the year ahead.
Celebrating 20 Years of Sarah
Celebrating and honouring Sarah’s 20th anniversary with Groupwork Centre!
This gathering was also the perfect occasion to mark an incredibly important milestone of Sarah Norton's 20th anniversary with Groupwork Centre.
Sarah remembers her very first workshop well – she co-facilitated it back in February 2006 alongside our founder, Glen Ochre. Today, Sarah is our Associate, Practice Lead, and Governance Group Representative. She continues to expertly lead courses in our Public Learning Program, including the Facilitation Skills Training, the upcoming Advanced Group Facilitation Program, and our newly developed Deep Dive training.
To mark this special occasion, our team sat in a circle to express our sincere gratitude. We took the time to deeply appreciate the magic and love she brings to our community, both as a wonderful human being and as an exceptional Groupwork facilitator.
Weaving the Work Forward
Feeling refreshed and ready to move forward.
The openness, generosity and care our team brought to this space made it a truly significant moment in shaping who we are becoming together. Our Operations Team is now taking these outputs and weaving them into upcoming strategic work. This day reminded us that taking the time to tend to the work between us is an investment that pays off every single day.
When was the last time you stepped back to examine the bedrock of your own team's collaborative practices?
See you in the next post.
