Feelings and energy board
The partner of head is heart. Body has no opposite. In body, heart and head are one. ―Georgi Y. Johnson
👥 Serves: 11-25 people, 2-10 people
🎚 Difficulty: Easy
⏳ Total time: 11-30 minutes
🥣 Ingredients: 3 pre-prepared flipcharts (guidelines below), different coloured markers
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Awareness, Community, Radical Care
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Acknowledgment, Check-in, Check-out, Emotional intelligence, Mind-body-connection, Openness, Presence, Reflection, Relating to Others, Self-awareness
Feelings and energy board
📝 Description
A board to map the team’s feelings and energy levels.
This activity introduces a simple tool that can be used during specific team processes, e.g. a sensitive conversation, a team-offsite, a team retreat, etc. In a nutshell, it offers the opportunity to do regular pulse checks throughout the process so the team can raise its awareness of individual and collective feelings and energy levels.
🌟 Steps
Step 1 – Prior preparation (15’)
Before you gather your team, prepare the following flipcharts:
- Flipchart 1: Feelings & Emotions Wheel – Draw a big circle and divide it into 8 sections. Name each session as follows: anticipation, joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger.
- Flipchart 2: Body Map – Draw the outline of a person’s body.
- Flipchart 3: Energy Levels – Draw 2 spectrum lines for each day you’re gathering, one for the start and one for the end of each day. On the left side, write 1 or draw an empty battery; on the right side, write 10 or draw a full battery.
Step 2 – At the start of the day (10’)
At the start of the day (or process), introduce the three flipcharts to your team. Choose a specific coloured markers and ask each team member to:
- Feelings & Emotions Wheel: Draw a symbol close to the strongest feelings/emotions you are experiencing right now. If needed, refer to the wheel of emotions and feelings to help you identify what you feel right now.
- Body Map: Draw the same symbol next to the specific body parts where you feel these feelings and emotions (or other sensations).
- Energy Levels: Draw your symbol along the spectrum line to communicate your current level of energy on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = lowest, 10 = highest).
Whenever the team is done, take a few minutes to observe the collective picture and invite any observations or reflections. Ask them: What do you notice? What patterns have become apparent?
Step 3 – At the end of the day (10’)
At the end of the day (or process), ask your team to map their feelings and energy levels again. Make sure to use a different coloured marker so it is easier to spot the differences from the first pulse check.
Step 4 – Repeat
Repeat this process as needed, e.g. if your team retreat is 3 days, do this twice each day. Make sure to open a brief space for collective sense-making.