Picture yourself with a group of people. A circle is formed and a hush descends over those gathered. A leader steps forward and announces the intention of the working ahead. They ask all in attendance to take a deep breath, release the concerns of the day, and focus on the present. All gathered are now responsible for their own actions and feelings and they know the rules of the ritual.
Over the next hour each person is asked to reflect some aspect of the Elements - A display of fiery passion, perhaps, or a demonstration of water in the form of fluid change. The course of the working is directed to a build up of energy that is to be released at the conclusion of the ceremony. That energy, created in sacred space, is to go beyond the circle and the present moment and affect changes - some large and immediately noticeable, some subtle with far reaching, long-term results.
As the ritual draws to a close, the leader instructs everyone that the circle is open yet unbroken and bids everyone to part and meet another time.
Seems like a pretty standard Pagan ritual, but this took place in my office. It's how I try to run my meetings. I do this because I know it is effective - I've seen it work in sacred space over and over again. So how does one create a circle without creating a Human Resources nightmare? Let me break down the process.
The meeting (ritual) begins at a certain time. Once everyone is in my office (the break room, the boardroom, wherever). I explain why we're meeting (intention) and I lay out the guidelines for discussion (rules of the ritual). Everyone is asked to take a minute and let their last phone call, email conversation drop away (grounding, centering, focusing). This meeting has one purpose and one purpose only and it's now beginning (the circle is cast).
The exchange of ideas, the problem solving is happening (energy). Each participant is there for a purpose and I expect everyone to contribute to the conversation. As we reach conclusions or consensus, I re-iterate why we're there and what we're trying to accomplish together (directing energy). As the group creates the plan of action I ask for each person to tell me how they are going to take ownership of the plan and implement it in their department (releasing the energy from the circle).
As the meeting draws to a close, I thank everyone for their time, remind them that our meeting will have an affect on our company's success. I let them know that they are free to leave or hang out with me for a few minutes (opening the circle). I thank them for their time and let them know I'm looking forward to the next meeting (merry meet, merry part...you get the idea!).
Great post, I just walked out of a day long meeting myself that followed a similar vein. Excellent group of respectful folks that intuitively passed around a virtual talking stick. As a telecommuter, I had forgotten how different the energy of a meeting can feel when you're face to face. Though there were quite a few folks I hadn't met before, I had an amazing experience in that if an idea I had wasn't voiced by me, someone else would pick up the stick for me and voice what was in my head. With our intention in the form of an agenda, with mundane deliverables as a starting point, I feel like the overall vibe went out as a positive conversion of or addition to universal energies.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lori - I have the best of both worlds - I'm in the office three days a week and my home office two days.
ReplyDeleteGwion