Temperature Checks

How do we create a culture where people want to share (so that we can practice empathy)?

Great question from my morning session with the hard-working team of the United Way of Central Indiana. They are doing such important work!

One great way to open up a deeper level of understanding and support is to do a temperature check with your team.

You begin by asking, “What is your energy level this morning?”

- Red: “I am present but seriously struggling”
- Yellow: “I’m here with some reservations and challenges”
- Green: “Ready to go!”

Team members can elaborate, if they want, or not. But this can give you good info as a leader as to who is facing challenges in a given day.

And it signals that emotions have a place in the workplace; we can’t always be green all the time.

Follow up later on in the day with a conversation or a text: “I know you said you were red (or yellow) this morning. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”