# Personal and Team Values

Participants identify individual work values, cluster shared themes, test them against real workplace scenarios, and produce observable behavioral commitments.

**Time:** 120 minutes. 120 minutes matches the WorkshopBank source framework.
**People:** 4 to 20. Individual reflection, simultaneous pairs or trios, and parallel subgroups of 3 to 5 people.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Draft a shared set of behavioral commitments rooted in participants' core work values.
**Use it when:** Use during team formation, retreats, or after organizational restructuring when working norms need an explicit reset.
**Skip it when:** Skip during an active disciplinary crisis or when leadership has already mandated non-negotiable cultural rules.

## Materials and tools

- Printed values card sort deck or values list sheet (one per person)
- Scratch paper (one sheet per person)
- Sticky notes (one pad per person)
- Black markers (one per person)
- Scenario worksheets (one per subgroup)
- Flip chart and easel pad with stand
- Countdown timer
- Projector or large display screen (for hybrid sessions)

## Before participants arrive

1. Place one values deck or list sheet, scratch paper, and a marker at each seat.
2. Write definitions of Espoused Values and Enacted Values on a flip chart and keep it covered until Step 2.
3. Arrange room into tables seating 3 to 5 participants.
4. For hybrid setups, set up a central screen displaying the shared digital board and connect room microphones and speakers.

## Say this to open

Welcome. Today we will uncover the principles guiding our best work and turn them into explicit team habits. Start with your scratch paper. You will reflect quietly on your own peak and difficult moments, and later we will translate those insights into team commitments.

## How to run it

### 1. Recall peak and low moments (15 minutes)

Say the opening script. Ask everyone to write down two brief notes on scratch paper: one specific peak work moment when things clicked, and one frustrating moment when collaboration broke down. Invite people to keep their personal notes private or share only what feels comfortable.

### 2. Explain espoused versus enacted values (10 minutes)

Uncover the flip chart. Explain that espoused values are principles we claim to honor, whereas enacted values are habits demonstrated by everyday choices. Clarify that team values are mutual agreements on how colleagues treat each other, not merely an average of individual preferences.

### 3. Sort personal core values and share in pairs (20 minutes)

Direct participants to review the list of 30 values. Everyone quietly narrows the list to ten, then selects their top five core values (8 minutes). Next, participants form pairs (or one trio if the count is odd) to discuss concurrently across the room (6 minutes total). Partners take equal turns. Anyone may pass on sharing personal history and discuss workplace examples instead. Use the remaining 6 minutes to reset and answer process questions.

### 4. Cluster patterns into shared candidate values (25 minutes)

Instruct each participant to write their top three values on individual sticky notes, one value per note. Have participants post notes on the main flip chart or wall. Facilitate an open clustering session where the whole room groups duplicates and related concepts into four to six candidate themes.

### 5. Stress test values against work scenarios (25 minutes)

Divide participants into parallel tables of 3 to 5 people. Give each table a unique scenario from the scenario worksheet (or allow tables to choose one). Each table selects two candidate values from Step 4 and writes down exact actions team members would take to handle that dilemma. After 15 minutes of table work, have each table share one concrete action with the room.

### 6. Draft team behavioral commitments (15 minutes)

Gather the whole room together. For each candidate value theme, write one observable behavioral rule on the flip chart. Example: If the value is Transparency, write 'Post raw meeting notes within 24 hours.' Check for consensus using vocal agreement or a thumbs-up show of hands.

### 7. Debrief and close (10 minutes)

Facilitate a focused debrief. Ask the room the two debrief questions. Take three or four volunteer answers across the room to close cleanly within the time limit.


## Debrief questions

- Which proposed team agreement will be most useful during everyday pressure or disagreements?
- What is one concrete habit you will personally practice starting this week?

**Finished output:** A list of four to six shared team values, each paired with a concrete, observable behavioral rule.

## Remote

Run over a video platform. Provide a digital whiteboard with a separate, numbered frame for each participant containing a private set of digital value cards. In Step 3, participants sort cards quietly in their assigned frame, then move into concurrent 2-person breakout rooms for 6 minutes. In Step 4, everyone copies their top three values into a shared board zone for group clustering. In Step 5, assign breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people to review assigned scenarios on designated board frames. Record final commitments in a shared document.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person participants with each other and remote participants with each other for Step 3. For Step 4, all participants post their top three values to a shared digital whiteboard (in-person participants use laptops or phones), projected on a large display screen in the physical room for full visibility during clustering. For Step 5, maintain separate in-person and remote small groups. During report-outs, broadcast room microphones to the video call and play remote speakers through room audio.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide a large-print or screen-reader accessible values list alongside physical cards.
- Participants may keep personal stories private and participate by analyzing abstract workplace examples or acting as table scribe.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants get stuck on vague buzzwords without defining what they mean.**

Ask: 'What would a video camera record you doing if you lived this value?' Require statements to start with an active verb.

**One dominant participant dictates the candidate team values.**

Enforce silent writing on sticky notes before any verbal debate occurs, and mandate round-robin turns during table scenario testing.


## Terms used here

- Espoused Values: Principles or standards that a group claims to honor.
- Enacted Values: Principles translated into observable daily behavior and decisions.

## Participant material: Values Card Sort List

Accountability, Adaptability, Autonomy, Balance, Collaboration, Curiosity, Customer Focus, Dependability, Empathy, Excellence, Fairness, Flexibility, Growth, Honesty, Inclusivity, Innovation, Integrity, Learning, Openness, Ownership, Patience, Quality, Reliability, Respect, Security, Simplicity, Speed, Transparency, Trust, Well-being.

## Participant material: Scenario Worksheet

Scenario A: A critical project deadline is two days away, and a major technical flaw is discovered that will require either working overnight or delaying the launch date.
Scenario B: Two team members strongly disagree on the architecture of a new workflow, causing a standstill in project planning.
Scenario C: An external partner requests an urgent scope change that was not in the agreed sprint backlog.
Scenario D: A high-performing team member repeatedly misses internal check-ins and documentation deadlines, frustrating peers.
Scenario E: Urgent executive requests arrive mid-week, pulling resources away from commitments already promised to another department.
Scenario F: A customer identifies a data discrepancy caused by an untested process shortcut taken during last month's rush.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed on WorkshopBank under the title 'Personal & Team Values'. The original page notes design by former KPMG and McKinsey consultants.

Retained the seven-phase structure, 120-minute length, and values-to-commitments progression from WorkshopBank. This run sheet adds concrete timings for paired turns, defines parallel subgroup sizing for 4 to 20 people, provides six full scenarios to prevent table collisions, clarifies AV requirements for hybrid delivery, and specifies non-disclosure options.

[WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/workshops/personal-and-team-values)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/personal-team-values-workshop-workshopbank/