It is with genuine delight that I find myself delivering two workshops with the Trustee Board of the Norwich branch of the Samaritans.
I was approached to help them develop and embed their roles, responsibilities, relationships and how they work together before entering a strategic review phase.
As is common in work with boards, there is no shortage of commitment and passion alongside there being a lot to do.
On 9th May we had a fantastic half day workshop in the lovely room at YMCA Norfolk on Aylsham Road, Norwich.
We dived straight in having established our ‘accountable space’ guidelines for how we could and would be mindful of each other.
- Space was created to hear about their experiences as trustees, immediately forging bonds of common ground
- A visual expectations exercise enabled a setting of the boundaries for what a half day workshop could and could not realistically achieve
- With an ‘Emotions Ball’ providing the prompts, we explored motivations and feelings about being a trustee
- Practical activities went on to highlight what the Norwich Samaritans do, what their enablers are, culminating in the co-development of a framework for a really effective board
By the end of a warm, active, compassionate afternoon, we had common ground and practical threads for the emerging areas of focus.
Next time affords the opportunity to get into the detail of co-designing aspects of board functionality and working as a team to lead this vital charity.