More than a feeling

Personal Finance · 04 Apr 2019

Let’s get real. We’re all emotional beings.

Let’s get real. We’re all emotional beings. Why has it taken us so long to give ourselves permission to talk about emotions in the work environment and begin to feel comfortable sharing them?

Emotions are not playground cooties to be avoided. Engaging with and understanding your emotions at work is fundamental to relating to your team and connecting with what is happening for each of us.

Old beliefs suggest that everyone will fall into a melodramatic heap if we share feelings yet, at Harmoney, quite the opposite is proving true.

At Harmoney we have been using the Emotional Culture Deck* and what it has shown us is that sharing emotions actually makes our agile team retros more fun and helps create stimulating conversations about what supports change. Essentially a card game, the Emotional Culture Deck enables people to identify what they feel and express it without judgement.

Doing that is essential to creating an environment of psychological safety for employees. And without that organisations will find it hard to implement transformational change.

It is great to know that the language around “an emotional culture” is now becoming more normalised in the workplace. Feelings are what create the texture of a culture. Ultimately, we need to embrace the notion that feeling is central to all we create together.

* The Emotional Culture Deck is the brainchild of New Zealander Jeremy Dean and his company Riders and Elephants.

Recent Posts

Where there's a wedding – there's a way
Where there's a wedding – there's a way

Tegan’s partner popped the question on her birthday, 2019. Long before she, or any of us, knew what 2020 would be like.

Read article

Your guide to insurance
Your guide to insurance

Let’s take a walk through the most common types of insurance:

Home and contents insurance, if you own your own home Contents insurance, if you’re renting

Read article

Sanity savers for the new work year
Sanity savers for the new work year

Does it already feel like your holiday was months ago? January can be a mixed blessing. The weather’s great, but you’re trapped inside at your

Read article