How to give space for your team to process
Resources to support your team to process trauma
Hey there,
In the past 2 weeks life changed completely. A large part of our team is based in Berlin and currently thousands of people are arriving at Berlin’s train and bus stations daily. Many of them walked 20km or more across the border between Ukaine and Poland. Many of them with kids and heavy bags.
A few weeks ago I read American Dirt and was shocked and shaken by the brutality of what Mexican and other South American immigrants have to go through when they are trying to cross the border into the US. Now the new reality for many of these people from Ukraine is not much different.
This past week, the Bunch team has spent most of our waking hours trying to find accommodations, donations, SIM cards for the newly arrived. To support and to serve is ingrained in Bunch’s cultural DNA, so it feels good to help, however it’s just not enough there are more and more coming every day that require support.
In times like these, it’s crucial that you give your team space to help, volunteer, support and also process. Given how traumatising war can be, I was a bit lost on “how to process” together with the team, so I looked up a few formats, that maybe helpful for you too:
How to give space for your team to process traumatic experiences
Top Takeaways: Very practical tips on how to provide practical and emotional support for people in distress. Gives examples on questions to ask and statements to use.
👉 Six supportive ways to address trauma that shows up at work by Workplaces respond
Top Takeaways: Even though this resource has been written for different types of trauma, this is really helpful esp. for HR leaders and managers that want an overview first of what the organization can do support and how to account for ripple effects that trauma has on people’s behavior and well-being at work
👉 An Exercise to Help Your Team Overcome the Trauma of the Pandemic by Lisa Zigarmi & Davia Larson
Top Takeaways: This offers a step-wise blue print for a team session to process traumatic events that impacted most of the team. This has been written for the Pandemic-induced stress, but can be adjusted for the current situation.
From the Community
Today’s community section is dedicated to shout-outs for all those that have contributed and actively supported Ukrainian refugees:
Josh Nickell - donated SIM cards for BIPOC refugees from Ukraine arriving in Berlin
Sebastian Sujka - donated SIM cards for BIPOC refugees from Ukraine arriving in Berlin and opened his home for a Ukranian family
Sarah Faber - raised funds for the first days of a newly arrived refugee and connected a refugee with potential employers
Morgan Roderick - opened his home for a Ukrainian refugee
Renita Kalhorn - offered free coaching
Peoplestorming team - offered free coaching
Liesbeth Van Harlem - donated SIM cards for BIPOC refugees from Ukraine arriving in Berlin
Andrew Stetsenko - risking his life to organise donations and transport from the border into Ukraine, while still being in Ukraine
Jan Hase & team - matching 5k refugees and providing 12k beds
And last but not least thank you to the Bunch team that has donated numerous first aid kids & baby food, as well as shared their Airbnb with a refugee, and volunteered their time to help new arrivals out.
Tips from the Bunch AI Coach:
Check out this week‘s tip Team Therapy from Kelly Greenwood, Founder & CEO at Mind Share Partners, which can help you run a quick first session with your team.
Stay safe,
Darja
PS: Download the AI coach to get 1% better in just 2 min a day