Uncover the Stinky Fish – group exercise
If we don't talk about issues (the Fish), they'll get worse (or stinkier).
This exercise is a valuable way to help you and your team discuss things openly by asking questions that may be uncomfortable but are necessary in working together effectively as a team to achieve the best outcome possible.
The exercise looks at four key areas that may be hindering members of your team from engaging openly because of:
Uncertainty – things that team members feel that they don't have control over
Being uncomfortable – factors that may be causing team members anxiety or that they feel nervous about, inhibiting their focus
Underlying or silent problems – unsaid feelings that everybody is thinking about but no one is saying
Past issues may be inhibiting progress and teams from moving forward effectively.
Important:
Before conducting this exercise, leaders must create a psychologically safe space for their team to ensure participants can express their feelings without fear of retribution.
Outline the expectations of the exercise beforehand, discussing that the intention is to uncover silent issues that may be affecting how the team works together without it being a venting session.
Share a copy with each participant to fill out independently and then put up all templates on a wall, allowing everyone to share their inputs individually.
Discuss commonalities between each quadrant and prioritise key issues that should addressed – a great way of determining this can be through voting on three key issues – what problem is stopping us from being effective the most, what issue we can fix quickly, and what issue can help us the most by resolving it.
Start brainstorming ways to solve these issues together, and ensure follow-up with your team afterward.
This exercise is part of our Strategic Insight for Maximum Impact course designed to empower all public sector professionals to become strategic operators, regardless of their role, by equipping them with invaluable skills to dissect complex problems, translate requests into actionable plans, and collaborate seamlessly.
Please contact us if you would like to discuss how we can customise this course specifically to suit your team's requirements.