A few weeks ago, I led my first in-person, indoor job in 18 months (!)

I traveled to Maine to facilitate a planning meeting for the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, a long-time favorite client. I had the pleasure of partnering with graphic facilitator Marsha Dunn to design and deliver the retreat.

We began the day by asking participants to pair up and answer the following question: 

“What did you learn or experience during the pandemic that might benefit our organization as we move forward?”

People want to talk about it!

This question (or prompt, in facilitator-speak) includes the elements of a successful icebreaker. It’s timely, a bit provocative, and it explicitly invites people to share their own experiences and perspectives.

A sense of energy flowed through these conversations and filled the room. We let the exercise run for about ten minutes; frankly, it could have lasted a little longer, because people appreciated the question and had a lot to say.

Among their observations:

• The value of the organization’s mission – which focuses on land conservation and conservation science – grew even more important during the pandemic.

• The community loves having access to wild places for hiking, playing with their kids, etc. However, sharply increased demand makes it harder to care for the land.

• While Zoom programming greatly expanded their audience (and won’t end any time soon), face-to-face communication and experience remains critical.

• We adapted. We made it. We are resilient!

By both reflecting on the past and considering the future, this exercise nicely prepared us for the planning discussion that followed.

If you like it, feel free to borrow this prompt for your next post-pandemic planning meeting.

Post-pandemic? Really? 

As I write this in August 2021, COVID levels are rising again. I am grateful to live in a state (Vermont) and a region (New England) with high vaccination rates and relatively low transmission, but the virus remains a threat.

If you’re beginning to gather again – indoors or out – these exercises might be relevant and useful.

If you’re not gathering yet, keep these questions in your back pocket until your group can reconvene. Several would work well on Zoom.

Where do you stand? 

For years, I’ve been a fan of continuum or spectrum exercises. I ask people to stand shoulder to shoulder. Then they move up or down the line based on their answers to various questions.

The following questions might be very revealing for your upcoming board meeting, staff meeting, or any sort of planning session.

• Regarding COVID, how safe do you feel these days? One end of the line (point to that end) is “very safe;” the other is “very unsafe.”

• What percentage of our programs should be in-person vs. virtual? One end equals 100% in-person; the other end equals 100% virtual. The middle would be 50% each.

• On the optimism / pessimism scale, how are you feeling about our organization’s prospects for the next year?

After each question, encourage everyone to speak briefly about why they choose to stand where they’re standing. If a few people are dominating the discussion, you might say, “This time around, let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.”

Why do this? Before moving into the meat of your agenda, it’s useful to surface any unspoken assumptions or strong feelings. Indeed, if you don’t create space to discuss and address them, they will probably bubble up in unproductive ways.

What else did you learn?

Consider the following small group prompts. These are variations of the icebreaker we used in Maine.

• When you come to the meeting, bring an object that represents one aspect of your experience during the pandemic. Share the object with your colleagues and describe why it’s meaningful to you.

• Discuss one moment or experience during the pandemic that changed your thinking. What changed? How might that change inform how we think about our work?

• Have you observed other nonprofits successfully adapting to the pandemic? What did they do? Why did you appreciate it? What can we learn from their example?

It’s all about the group

These exercises and prompts can generate useful, actionable ideas, which is great … but that’s a secondary goal. Your primary goal is to create space for people to share their experiences, their ideas, their hopes and fears.

As we emerge from the pandemic – whenever and however – our nonprofits will succeed based on the strength of our teams and the ways in which our people feel valued and heard. This moment (post-pandemic or not) provides an opportunity to ask provocative questions and listen deeply for answers.

Don’t miss this opportunity.