31.572 Lego bricks - 1 Target

But what about culture development when only the interaction of different teams leads to success? How can agile values such as "cooperation," "trust," "team spirit," "openness," etc. be promoted outside of individual teams? How can we succeed in strengthening the "we" feeling in an area of 200 employees?

We explored this question at the beginning of the year at the "OTTO - E-Commerce Solutions and Technology - MEETUP". But see for yourself whether and how we succeeded.

Why this workshop now?

The "eCommerce Solutions & Technology" division has grown considerably in recent years, and there has been a lot of movement, especially among external employees. In addition, the teams now work across three locations. The individual agile teams have been able to respond very well to these circumstances, but cross-team networked working has become increasingly difficult. We wanted to respond to this.

What was the goal of the workshop?

Agile teams work because team members know each other well. And that starts - as banal as it sounds - with the face, the name, individual strengths, preferences and so on. This is the basis for trust and good cooperation. With the workshop, we wanted to start precisely there, with getting to know each other, even outside the teams.

We also wanted to invite the employees to help shape how we live the culture and the agile values in the area. First of all, this in itself influences the culture. And secondly, it gives rise to many new impulses.

How was the goal pursued?

We worked in 24 groups at 12 stations across locations, teams and hierarchies, which had just as positive an impact on getting to know each other as the social and evening program. Using the LEGO Serious Play^® method, the groups pursued a central question: "What is the hallmark of a strong sense of unity in the division?

And what is LEGO Serious Play^®?

The LEGO Serious Play^® method is a playful and serious way of strengthening team communication and promoting creativity. The fixed set of building blocks - and especially the time - are limited. So there is not much room for long discussions about the "how". Instead, it's the "what" that counts in the end, the result.

Much faster than in other formats, each participant has to get to the core of his statement and then explain his model to all the others; this can sometimes be quite comical. Building with your hands has been shown to stimulate brain activity and produce surprising, creative results. During the workshop, the facilitator gradually increases the complexity of the task. For example, after the participants have first built long and stable bridges, they move on to more metaphorical structures, such as "the mood in the team" - expressed in LEGO bricks.

The LEGO workshop culminates in the "LEGO-ization" of a desirable target state - so together, all participants have to combine their thoughts and models to build a large structure. For us, the model is a great way to conduct team workshops in a different, but no less effective way.