HAVE YOU HEARD OF WIFLE?

WIFLE is a great communication tool to implement within your team meetings.

THE ACRONYM AND THE WHAT

WIFLE stands for What I Feel Like Expressing. The idea behind WIFLE is that it you, and each member of your team a space to share what is on their mind – work related or not. The workplace can be a busy and overwhelming place at times, and it can be easy to get caught up in it all without properly addressing your issues or emotions. Everyone has their own lives going on outside of the workplace, and sometimes it can be hard to separate the two. Giving each member of your team an opportunity to express what’s on their mind helps not only for them to feel heard, but for you as a business owner to understand your team on a deeper level.

THE RULES

There are a few crucial rules to follow in order to lead a successful WIFLE. They are as follows:

  1. Make sure you and your team are in a safe and comfortable environment. You want to be sitting around the room, ensuring everyone can see one another.
  2. One by one, each member of the group will go around and share their WIFLE, uninterrupted by the rest of the team. Remember, this is a space where individuals have the right to say anything that is on their minds – please be respectful and understanding of this.
  3. Once everyone in the group has had the opportunity to share their WIFLE, issues and action points can be discussed. It is important that this happens after all members of the team have had their turn as it gives an equal opportunity for each team member to be heard.
  4. Mediating this is important to ensure productive conversations allowing room for progress and change to happen both within the business and amongst team members.
  5. Making this a frequent activity will increase team morale and effectiveness in communication. It is recommended that this happens at least once a week.
ADDITIONS

There are a number of extra techniques and activities you can also include during this time. These can be as simple as including ‘High/Low’; where individuals share their highlight and lowlight of their week (can be work related or personal). Another similar one is the ‘Rose, Bud, Thorn and Gardener’. This one looks at one’s highlight (rose), something that they are looking forward to, a goal or an area they are growing in (bud), a lowlight (thorn) and someone they admire or is helping them grow and learn (gardener).

FINAL THOUGHTS
Ensuring this space is a safe, honest and judgement-free zone is crucial to the success of this activity. If implemented correctly, you will come away with a much deeper and personal understanding of each individual within your team.

What do you feel like expressing today?