Values Exercise: Narrowing Down a List of Values
This exercise helps teams identify and prioritize their core values by systematically narrowing down a comprehensive list. It fosters shared understanding and alignment around what's most important to the team's identity and work.
Use this method when a team needs to define or reaffirm its values, especially when there's a lack of clarity or alignment on what those values should be. It's also useful when onboarding new team members to quickly integrate them into the team's culture.
Solves: Lack of shared understanding of team values, conflicting priorities, difficulty making decisions aligned with values.
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Step 1: Provide each participant with a comprehensive list of values (e.g., the Management 3.0 Big Value List). (5 min)
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Step 2: Individually, have each participant narrow the list down to their top 20 values. (10 min)
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Step 3: In small groups (3-5 people), have participants share their top 20 and collaboratively narrow the list down to 10 values. (20 min)
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Step 4: As a whole team, discuss the remaining 10 values and narrow them down to the final 3-5 core values. Ensure everyone agrees on the meaning of each value. (30-45 min)
- Encourage open and honest discussion about the meaning of each value.
- Remind participants that there are no right or wrong answers, and the goal is to find values that resonate with the entire team.
- Be prepared to facilitate difficult conversations and help the team reach consensus.
- Use a voting system (e.g., dot voting) to narrow down the list of values.
- Invite external stakeholders (e.g., customers, partners) to contribute to the values exercise.
- Use the values exercise as a starting point for creating a team charter or code of conduct.