10 Culture-Building Ways to Start Your Staff Meeting That Aren't Ice-Breakers

Start your next team meeting or staff meeting in a way that can help lift your system and build a happier and healthier culture & climate. Check these out!


1. Compliment Snowball Fight: Ask everyone to look around the room and write one compliment about a teammate. Then crumble it into a "snowball" and throw it into the center. Once all the snowballs are in the center, each staff member needs to find one and read it. Then, ask them to keep it with them and deliver it to the recipient sometime within the next week!


2. Shout Out: Allowing time & space for staff members to give each other a quick shoutout is a positive way to recognize a colleague for something they've noticed, observed, or appreciate. The rule? Keep it SHORT & SWEET! 30 seconds or less!
3. Positive Calls Home: Ask everyone to pull out their phones and make a positive call home to a student's family. Alternatives to this are to pass out postcards and have teachers fill out a positive message to mail home to a family!
4. Friendly Letter to Colleague: Distribute blank stationary and have folks identify someone in the room to express a quick note of appreciation. Ask them to hold on to it and deliver it the next day.
5. Send a Funny GIF or Meme to a Teammate in the Room: Yes, really. Connecting through humor is a GREAT way for us to nurture healthy relationships with our teammates. Messages can be sent through text or email (and of course, keep it work appropriate!) 
6. Make up a Fake Award for a Teammate and Present it to Them: Let's get creative! This can again be a fun (and funny) way to acknowledge and express appreciation for each other.
7. Write 3 Things you are Thankful for Today: Ask folks to capture physically (with pen and paper) or digitally (type) three things that they are thankful for that are not work-related. This is a great way to remind ourselves that we have identities outside of our roles!
8. Watch a Funny or Inspiring Video Together: Keep it short and sweet. Sharing a collective laugh is a great way to bring us together.
9. Invent a New Hashtag for your School that Expresses your Beliefs: It may not be one that you use necessarily, but it's a great way to revisit your school's mission. A good way to start this is to have folks write out WE ARE ______ SCHOOL AND WE _______.
10. Create a Play List: Ask folks to write out their current favorite song. Compile them and create a building playlist! When students are not in the building, play a song from the playlist. Music is a great way for us to connect to each other and learn more about each other.


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