The Season of Renewal

In a post-pandemic world, we are starting to see the effects of disruptive change take hold in organizations. 

We are starting to hear things like the following:

• “We let the big office go and are adjusting to hybrid (or remote) work.”
• “We’ve got fewer people now and are struggling to find an org chart that works or makes sense.”
• “The vision keeps changing and the team is having a hard time seeing themselves in it.”
• “There’s less work coming in than before so we are trying to stabilize the business.”
• “We’ve merged with (or acquired) another team/business and need to integrate our standards, culture, and values.”

All of these (and more) are signs you are entering into the season of renewal. Getting past the roadblocks, obstacles or disasters is only the beginning of the challenge.

According to the Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance model, the renewal stage brings closure to the cycle of work done by teams and usually includes things like adding new members, harvesting what you’ve learned, and celebrating endings.

Individuals and organizations need to pause and create time to assess, adjust, process, and recalibrate, before moving forward to the next stage. Looking at the Investment Portfolio canvas designed by The Grove, we see that in the bottom left quadrant (labeled “Plow”) the focus turns to things that are in decline, being displaced, underutilized or need to be repurposed. 

As David Sibbet explains in his book, Visual Consulting, these elements of the business don’t need to go away completely, though some might. When we think about the process organically or agriculturally, these are the parts of the business that can be composted or tilled into something new. They are stretches of field that need to be replanted, possibly with new seeds. They are crops that may need to be scaled down or moved to a different plot. This requires strategy and your best thinkers using the data that’s been harvested throughout the other seasons.

You should use your season of renewal to reconnect with your vision, mission, and purpose. Reflect on what kind of leader you’ve been and whether that style of leadership is still required or whether there needs to be some adjustment (or inner work) on your part.

RENEWAL OPPORTUNITIES

Here are some things you can do as a team to invest in (and celebrate) the season of renewal.

• Staff retreats
• Sharing sessions (roundtables, town halls, fishbowls)
• Sabbaticals (for senior team members)
• Retrospective/Learning events (graphically recorded)
• Job rotation (to avoid burnout)
• Field trips (relationship-building and bonding)
• Vision refresh (a chance for the team to contribute their insights, reconnect with their purpose, and orient toward the future)​​

If you need help leading a renewal session, re-casting your vision, or facilitating or capturing a town hall or retrospective, reach out to us to schedule a 30-minute discovery call.