Three activities to activate professional identity conversations on your team
How can we see who our coworkers really are?
Sharing our professional identity (how we see ourselves in our work) is paramount to shaping company culture, increasing a sense of belonging, and developing more understanding across teams.
Out of thin air, I've watched colleagues introduce themselves as a "Polisher of Diamonds in the Rough" and an "Empathetic Instigator" when their actual titles were something standard and familiar like Director of Research, Manager of Community Affairs, and Senior Liaison.
Professional identity workshops should be offered alongside other professional development activities so that teams start to unbox each other and create authentic relationships based on how each person wants to be seen, known, and valued.
I've been testing these tools with organizations, and it's fabulous to watch how it changes participant's sense of themselves, sense of their colleagues, and builds new relational knowledge that strengthens trust and bonds across teams.
The power of opening up about our professional identity and talking about how we see ourselves in our work is that it helps others see us the way want to be seen.
The energy in the room warmed up, people chuckled and eyes opened wide. It was both a sign of knowing each other and being surprised by the titles people chose for themselves.
Here are three easy professional identity exercises to try with your team today.
Three ways to explore professional identity and increase workplace belonging
Activity 1: Quick Intros with “The Title You Truly Are”
Time: 30 seconds per person
Purpose: Instead of doing ordinary intros (name, title, department), add this simple twist to get a glimpse into who each person really is in their role and what title they might call themselves instead.
Instructions: When doing introductions, ask each person to follow these bullet points. Model with your own intro first:
Your Name
Job Title
Department
Job title that describes who you really are (aka the Chief Fire Fighter or the Conscious Connector) or the job title you would give yourself to better reflect your role
Tip: Putting people on the spot can produce mediocre results, so make sure to model this before you begin and share a creative True Title of your own. Otherwise, a handful of people will call themselves something basic like a “relationship builder” or a “problem solver.” More often than not, people are up for this spur of the moment challenge and share raw, unexpected titles that truly show a new side of themselves.
Outcomes: Aside from hearing something fun and funny that will be entertaining, this activity opens the group to being creative and seeing each other past formal job titles. You'll likely learn something new about people in the room.
Activity 2: Many Sides of Me
Time: 10 min individual time + 5 min per person to share (best in small groups of 4 people). Total time 30 minutes.
Purpose: This is a team building activity used as a type of icebreaker. It gives each person a chance to reflect on their role and learn more about the professional roles of other people on their team or in their group.
Instructions: Give each person a 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper. Have them fold it into three or four columns. In each column, answer one of the following questions. Have each person spend 10 minutes answering questions, then form small groups and ask each person to share what they wrote for the different sides of themselves. Use the reflection questions in the small groups.
How do others see me in my role?
How do I see myself in my role?
What hats do I not want to wear in my role?
What do I stand for? What are my values and beliefs in this role?
Reflection questions:
What surprised you in writing your answers to the questions?
Why do people see you one way and you see yourself differently? Stereotypes, company politics, bias, etc.
How can you help shift perceptions to be seen more the way you want to be seen?
Outcomes: This activity is self-reflective and also opens discussion on how people are perceived in their roles versus how they see themselves. It may open questions around role confusion, workload,
Activity 3: Ten “I Am” Statements
Time: 20-30 minutes
Purpose: This activity allows people to share the multiple identities they possess and see norms and differences across a team. It will reveal the collective, relational, and individual identities of a group.
Instructions: On a sheet of paper, have each person write ten different "I am..." statements. When finished, have each person share them aloud or in small groups. When sharing is complete, notice which types of identities were common and which were unique.
Look for three types of identities. Collective identities are ones where most people belong to the same identity (gender, nationality, type of occupation), relational identities have to do with relationships (mother, son, sister, friend), and individual identities are ones that are rare and only one or two people possess in the group. How many of each were there?
Outcomes: Notice the multitude of identities each person possesses in them selves and notice the number of identities within the group. Which ones are shared and which ones are unique? If you have time, discuss how this feels as a team. What do you notice about in-groups versus out-groups in this particular team?