All of our culture work and guidance falls under three pillars: having your team feel that they are known, they matter and they are included.

The exercise I’m going to share with you supports the second two pillars.  It deepens mutual respect by clarifying what it means and what it looks like to support co-workers in feeling a sense of belonging.

This simple exercise comes from an educator and student training company called On Course Workshop that helps colleges improve student success and retention. It’s called “Mattering vs. Marginalizing” based on the work of Nancy K. Schlossberg. This exercise, applied to your workplace, supports the same outcomes: employee success and employee retention.

Here’s a shortened description of the exercise adopted for the workplace.

Enjoy!