Time required
About 30 minutes, depending on group size.
Preparation
Hand out or email a list of the following questions to participants in advance of the meeting.
- What’s one thing you worry about related to your work?
- What’s the worst thing that could happen?
- How likely is it that this terrible thing will, in fact, occur?
- If it did happen, what would you do, and/or who would you turn to?
- What other challenging situations have you handled that indicate you would probably be able to handle whatever may come along?
Complete your own before you begin the session, as you’ll be demonstrating how to more effectively deal with worry at work.
Pay special attention to what your team members share in terms of what their worries are at work. You may want to jot them down so that later you can help problem-solve any unresolved worries.
Suggested wording
If you haven’t already done so, please answer the questions on your handout. Everyone will be asked to share their answer to question #1 and I’ll ask for volunteers to share answers to the other questions. The point of this exercise is to improve our problem-solving skills. I’ll begin with my worry and it is ...
[Once you’ve shared your answer, ask everyone to share their answer to question #1. After everyone has shared you can share the rest of your answers to questions 2 to 5 and ask for volunteers to share theirs.]
- What’s one thing you worry about related to your work?
- What’s the worst thing that could happen?
- How likely is it that this terrible thing will, in fact, occur?
- If it did happen, what would you do, and/or who would you turn to?
- What other challenging situations have you handled that indicate you would probably be able to handle whatever may come along?
Thank you for sharing your examples. While worry is common, it can also be a waste of our energy. If there’s something that needs to change or be dealt with, we should do this as a team. If it can’t be changed or dealt with, we should develop a way to accept that.
When we discuss what we’re worried about, often we can find solutions to help reduce our stress.
To wrap up, let’s take a moment to individually consider one constructive thing you’d do differently when worried about work in the future.
Find more activities like this at Team building activities.