A common challenge encountered when working with leaders across campus is how to identify, understand, and generally work with the emotions and emotional experiences of their employees. There is no shortcut to doing that type of listening, learning, and relationship building work. It is not easy, but it is necessary as we work to build and sustain a culture that protects and promotes employee health, safety, and well-being. This blog post provides guidance to leaders who may wish to gain a better understanding of their employees’ feelings and needs but may not know how to go about doing that in a way that is engaging, protects confidentiality, and aligns with the broader Total Organizational Health (TOH@UTC) initiative for our campus. Instructions and general guidance are provided for three brief activities that can be facilitated with employees in a unit or department meeting context. Supplemental materials are also available via links embedded in this post; these worksheets can help facilitators manage one or more of these activity options with different employee groups. If additional guidance or assistance with this type of activity is needed, please contact the TOH@UTC team at [email protected].

Note that for each of the suggested activities, the following descriptive words can be used to help identify and discuss employees’ experiences and feelings about their current work and life experiences. To facilitate connection with other TOH@UTC resources and the ongoing campus-focused efforts to improve these qualities within our institution, these descriptors are mapped onto the main TOH@UTC framework dimensions in the following table:

Positive Emotions/Experiences	Negative Emotions/Experiences	TOH@UTC Linkage
safe, secure, protected, supported, cared for, shielded, comforted, stable, confident, reassured	unsafe, vulnerable, threatened, exposed, fearful, insecure	Protection from Harm
included, connected, valued, appreciated, trusted, united, collaborative, welcomed, understood	isolated, excluded, disconnected, unappreciated, mistrusted	Connection & Community
balanced, flexible, free, autonomous, empowered, peaceful, manageable	overwhelmed, stressed, constrained, trapped, chaotic	Work-Life Harmony
respected, dignified, meaningful, purposeful, recognized, important	undervalued, ignored, insignificant, disrespected	Mattering at Work
learning, accomplished, growing, thriving, achieving, developing	stagnant, unfulfilled, stuck, unchallenged	Opportunity for Growth

Activity Facilitation Options and Details

Below are high-level details for three brief activities that can be used to engage employees to identify, reflect upon, and communicate about their current emotions and experiences, particularly regarding their work. Each activity summary includes information regarding when it may be most appropriately used and how it can be generally facilitated. These activities can be treated as standalone or consecutive modules. They range in duration from 5-20 minutes, varying also by the size of the group in which they are being facilitated. Please also see the associated facilitation worksheets for these activities, which are also included at the end of this guide.

Activity #1: Individual reflection

This activity will likely take 10 to 15 minutes for a typical department or unit. It is most appropriate when…

• Emotional/experiential awareness is being introduced for the first time
• Participants might feel hesitant to share about their personal feelings and experiences publicly
• The goal is to help self-identify emotional or experiential patterns, and increase self-awareness
• Needed materials:
  • This facilitator guide
  • This Activity #1 worksheet (one per person plus a few extra copies)
  • Pens/pencils or highlighters
  • Blank notecards for sharing
• Facilitation notes
  • Distribute Activity #1 worksheet, pens/highlighters, and notecards
  • Ask participants to highlight or underline 3-5 emotions they have felt the most often in the past month
  • Instruct them to write brief notes on the back of their handout about when or why they have felt each emotion
  • Have participants choose 1-2 emotions and write them (with your brief notes on when and why) on a notecard, without including their names or personal details (if they desire anonymity)
  • Collect the notecards for later review and/or group discussion

Activity #2: Visualizing our Emotional Climate at Work

This activity will likely take 10 to 15 minutes for a typical department or unit. It is most appropriate when…

• The goal is to get a digital, anonymous, real-time visualization to capture collective emotion or sentiment
• The group is larger or remote
• You are introducing emotion awareness in a data-driven, yet psychologically safe, way
• When participants are not comfortable sharing aloud or in person
• You want an interactive option for exploring emotions quickly
• The department has moderate trust: participants are willing to share emotions nonverbally in a shared space
• The goal is to build empathy and awareness across roles while keeping the activity creative and engaging
• Needed materials:
  • This facilitator guide
  • This Activity #2 worksheet (one per person plus extra copies)
  • If using a live polling tool: a computer connected to internet and a projector or large screen, to display the real-time word cloud
    • Live polling tool, such as Aha Slides (https://ahaslides.com) with QR code generated for participants to scan OR whiteboard or flipchart and markers to capture responses from participants
  • Otherwise: white board, flipchart, or sticky notes in multiple colors (enough for 2-3 per participant); pens/markers for responding
• Facilitation notes:
  • Prepare to gather inputs from participants
    • If using an internet-based resource (like Aha Slides), set up the live polling to capture inputs and generate a word cloud. Share the corresponding QR code for participants to scan with their phones to facilitate their engagement in this activity.
    • If using sticky notes or a whiteboard, provide a designated space for participants to respond
  • Distribute Activity #2 worksheet to participants
  • Instruct participants to submit 1-2 emotion words reflecting on how they have recently been feeling at and about their work. Encourage specific terms, avoiding generic words like “good” or “bad”
  • Develop/display the word cloud on the projector screen or whiteboard (depending on your method of gathering participant input).
    • If using a word cloud generation tool, remind participants that larger words represent emotions mentioned more frequently
  • If using a whiteboard or flipchart, you can show frequencies with hashmarks or “*” added after recurring words

Activity #3: Understanding Our Emotions and Emotional Experiences at Work

This activity will likely take 10 to 15 minutes for a typical department or unit. It may be helpful to combine this with one of the preceding activities. It is most appropriate when…

• The work unit/department has moderate trust, and people are comfortable speaking to each other about experiences
• The goal is to create connection and begin identifying themes or triggers around work experiences
• You want to further normalize speaking about emotions and emotional experiences and encourage empathy
• There is a desire to generate actionable ideas or strategies for promoting and sustaining more positive (vs. negative) emotions in a workgroup, unit, or department
• Needed materials:
  • This facilitator guide
  • This Activity #3 worksheet (one per person plus extra copies)
  • Pens or pencils
  • Notecards or small sheets for optional notetaking or sharing
  • Optional: whiteboard/flip chart and markers for discussion
• Facilitation notes
  • Engage the full group for discussion (or if very large, separate into two or more smaller groups to facilitate discussion)
  • Following the instructions in the worksheet for this activity, engage participants in exploring factors that are associated with the most common or impactful recent personal and/or group emotions.
    • These may have been identified from either of the preceding activities or from a general “warm up” conversation prior to beginning this reflection.
  • Facilitate discussion around the prompts outlined in the worksheet for this activity.
  • Take notes yourself and encourage participants to do likewise for later personal reflection and action as a workgroup, unit, or department.