The Union of Students' Unions of Finland (SYL) is made up of ambitious and visionary people. We are not here for money, but for the love of the sport. Everyone is committed not only to their own work, but also to making SYL a better place. This is excellent, and we have many different views on how SYL should work. But sometimes we are too critical of other people's ideas. Another major challenge is the turnover of people: the experts, the staff, remain the same, but the board of directors, who work full-time in the office, changes every year. At the same time, the culture of debate changes and one could say that it has to be recreated every year.
Simulations provide a basis for debate
We consciously work for the benefit of the work community and we have already used SmoothTeam three times. We have chosen it in particular because of its simulation-based approach. The simulation creates a basis for discussion and keeps the workshop meaningful for the participants, even remotely.
Our recent simulation helped us to identify and articulate what sometimes gets in the way of our conversational culture and why we are not always able to be constructive. In particular, SmoothTeam helped us to identify the strong sense of criticality that many of us have. Criticism is a great gift for us, as long as we can work together to take advantage of it. The simulation also helped management to organise what we do together: how to run events, when to do it in small groups and when to do it all together, how to share the floor, and so on.
Multiple benefits
At the time of the simulation, less than half of the work community had only been in the team for four months. The simulation served as a way of getting to know each other and encouraged people to get to know each other better even after the simulation.
The simulation also works well because it starts with a good groundwork exercise, with everyone responding from their own perspective. This groundwork helps to identify root causes and allows for deep discussions, which would not be possible in a regular facilitated workshop. At the same time, the characteristics of individuals are identified, and a picture of what kind of people are in the work community emerges.
SmoothTeam also gives individuals something to reflect on about how I see myself and how others see me. In this respect too, SmoothTeam goes beyond other work coaching tools.
I can definitely recommend SmoothTeam to various organisations. SmoothTeam works to develop the team and its work, helps to identify pain points and have constructive discussions about them.
Sonja Raitamäki
Secretary General
The Union of Students' Unions of Finland SYL
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