Operating Agreements
This weekend can bring you marvelous insights to achieve the goals you want and to overcome the challenges you face. We want to share with you what you can do to maximize the results you get from the time you are investing. From our work with thousands of people, we have identified distinct differences between those who get the most out of the weekend and those who don’t, and from this, designed the following approaches and operating agreements to maximize your success as well as the success of those with whom you work.
Many of the seminar exercises are conducted in groups. It is essential for you and your fellow group members’ success that you follow these guidelines. They will maximize your benefit in this game of learning and growing. All participants must agree to all of these. It is your choice whether or not to agree to follow these agreements, but if you choose not to—you are unable to participate in the training. These agreements facilitate the most learning and the most positive experience for everyone in the training and on your team. Please review these agreements and sign the attached form if you agree to follow them during the training.
Participate fully. Research has shown that the more you invest and participate in the workshop by asking questions, thinking about the material, and really engaging in exercises, the more you will benefit. Learning styles vary—some process information best through discussion, some through introspection, some through movement—so your participation may look different from those around you. If you notice yourself not wanting to participate in a particular experience, talk to your team lead or assistant about any concerns you have about it. It’s also important to commit to being here for the entire training. If you are currently aware of a hard conflict this weekend, talk to your leader. It may be best to attend a future training so that you can participate fully at that time.
Be on time. This weekend training is packed fully with exciting content and curriculum. Any one person being late for the day or after lunch or after a break, has a large cost to the entire group of participants. Plan to be on time or early for each section.
Be coachable and open-minded. In order to achieve your goals or overcome challenges you face, you must be open to new ways of doing things. We all have blind spots. Just as athletes use coaching to expand their capacities, we can use coaching to correct limitations. We simply ask you to be coachable and be open to having your opinion shifted and changed – to be willing to take feedback from your team and from one of the leaders. The more the environment is open, the more likely it is that creative solutions will emerge for everyone involved.
Have a beginner’s mind. Apply new learning to yourself rather than giving advice. The best coaches and teachers are those who are always learning and are deepening their insights and learning in new ways. They operate with what yogis call beginner’s mind—they are discovering anew at all times, no matter how familiar the material may be. If you are tempted to give advice or teach others during this training, instead we ask that you look at what the new learning or insight is for yourself. Even if you have knowledge or expertise in related areas or past experience with personal growth workshops, this training is not designed for you to share what you already know. Instead, your greatest contribution to your fellow participants is for you to apply the material to your own life, learning, and growing by exploring your own personal limits, unknown territory, or cutting edge.
No side conversations. Your team’s success depends on everyone paying attention and supporting the group unity. Do not have side conversations. Keep your focus and attention on the group momentum so that you, and all of the team members, can have the greatest collective success.
Keep your chairs in a perfect circle for small group exercises. Certain exercises require your team to put their chairs in a circle to discuss. Research proves that a perfect circle maximizes team unity and results for all participants. When your team is meeting in a circle, make sure that your chair, and the chairs are your team members, are in a perfect circle. This perfect circle maximizes conversational flow and learning.
Be open and honest. You can always decline to share information about yourself. However, a training experience is a great opportunity to take
risks and be more open and honest. The more open you are, the more you will gain from the experience.
Speak about your own experience. While it is often easier to talk about how the experience or training relates to someone you know, you’ll get the most benefit when you talk about how your insight or learning applies to you or your position. Do not tell stories about other people or make generalizations. Stick with your own experience and how your new insights can contribute to your goals and dreams.
Ask clarifying questions rather than disagreeing. Instead of saying, “I disagree,” ask clarifying questions. If you lead with disagreement, you dismiss the possibility of learning from statements or perspectives that are different than your own.
Do not join a team with participants you know. Being on a team with an assistant you already know is allowable and may in fact aid your experience, but joining a team with another participant you already know will adversely affect your experience and will cause uncomfortable group divisions that will be a detriment to your team. This weekend is your opportunity to step into the unknown and do something new.
Practice e-etiquette. Please turn off your cell phone ringer and personal digital assistants. It’s understandable that you may need to check in on something by phone during a break, but the more you can fully immerse yourself in the training, the more you will get out of it.
Be coachable on limiting thinking and beliefs. Throughout the training you will begin to notice that you have limiting beliefs about yourself, others, and the world— beliefs that get in the way of your goal achievement. This limited thinking may show up in a ‘victim-based’ mindset—like blaming others or circumstances for your current situation, or complaining without examining your own responsibility in the matter. Your team will interrupt you when you are speaking in a way that reinforces these limiting beliefs so that you can start to become aware of the things keeping you from your dreams.
Contribute to team unity. It is your job as a participant to contribute positively to the experience of your fellow team members. Support others by listening, being curious, supporting them to think creatively about their assignments, and clapping for contributions that move the group along.
Keep information about others confidential. Throughout the training other participants will likely share personal information about themselves. Please do not share any of this information with others. Feel free to talk to others about what you find valuable about the training or what you got out of the exercises, but please respect others by keeping their personal information confidential.
Create value for yourself. Those who benefit the most in workshop learning don’t wait for information to come to them. They participate and generate meaning and value for themselves. The more that you can accept this responsibility to create value for yourself, the more you will find creative ways to contribute, participate, and benefit.
I came through the doors shut down. I am walking out a compassionate golden heart--a true vessel for spirit. Thank You.
