Facilitating Emotional Culture Change workshops using The ECD: Insights and reflections from my sabbatical by Claire McKie

by Claire McKie, Facilitator | Communication skills expert | Coach | Clinician - Originally posted on LinkedIN here

Over the past three months, I’ve had the privilege of being on sabbatical. My key focus has been undertaking the Emotional Culture Deck (ECD) Certified Consultant Course. 

As part of this, I facilitated workshops with teams across the healthcare space, exploring how we talk about feelings and craft emotional cultures in the workplace.

I have been surprised and inspired by how much teams and their leaders have embraced this and have made changes. How a single workshop unites a team with a shared goal and simple changes that everyone can make. And seeing how this has led to tangible changes in team culture and how people show up to work. 

The feedback has been universally, that staff want more, they want to continue this work, and they want every team to have this opportunity.

And I’ve been surprised (and not surprised) by the patterns that emerged: 

I asked every team to identify the top five things they need to feel to thrive and succeed at work. And in that top five, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 team chose: 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗, 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗, and 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗗. 

Here are my reflections on these three powerful themes.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
Connection is a fundamental human need. 

Creating spaces and opportunities for people to connect - away from the pressures of clinical or operational work - feeds directly into the feelings of being connected, supported, and appreciated. It sends a clear message: 

 "We value you, and your emotional wellbeing matters."

Even for teams who already describe themselves as well-connected, delving into emotions deepened their bonds further. Every time, there was a new layer of understanding, a fresh awareness of each other. 

And for less connected teams - a simple question framed around feelings – allowed people to share and get to know each other better. Feedback consistently highlighted the value of these opportunities.

And in every workshop, the value of hearing about shared common experiences was commented on. Knowing that we are not alone is a powerful connector.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
Appreciation is a fundamental need that is desperately craved by staff.

 Saying “thank you” helps.

 A free coffee helps. 

Noticing someone as an individual – goes a lot further. 

During the workshops, it became evident that genuine appreciation doesn’t require grand or costly gestures. Deep, meaningful expressions of appreciation are vital. Participants often shared how powerful it was to feel noticed and valued in everyday interactions. 

Regular, intentional acts of noticing and acknowledging an individual’s qualities and actions are enough to create a ripple effect of positivity and motivation.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧
Support, like connection and appreciation, is essential for teams to thrive. 

However, the workshops revealed a stark reality: teams are often feeling overwhelmed and powerless. 

Support isn’t merely about providing resources (although they certainly help). It’s about fostering a culture where everyone feels valued, heard, and empowered. This requires intentionality from leaders. 

From these workshops it is very clear how much staff want this, will embrace this, and will make the changes. However, embedding and sustaining these changes depends on organisational leadership, valuing and prioritising wellbeing and emotional culture. 

A recurring theme has been the importance of ongoing commitment from leadership. 

Building trust and enthusiasm is only the beginning; without organisational support, even the most enthusiastic teams will struggle to maintain momentum. 

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦

Facilitating these workshops has been exciting and rewarding, and has reinforced my belief in the transformative potential of embracing and crafting emotional cultures at work.

The Emotional Culture Deck has proven to be a powerful tool for connection and crafting shared goals and fostering collective ownership of culture.

And I think the message for organisations is that this is a choice. 

 - We know the importance of this. 

 - And we know our teams are ready for change. 

 - And we know our teams will make the change. 

So, we have an opportunity, and a choice, to value and prioritise our people and their wellbeing. 

And this work doesn’t have to be expansive or expensive – it is about tiny actions and change from everyone. Highlighted perfectly by the Margaret Mead quote:

"𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴."

I’m excited to continue exploring the breadth and depth of what’s possible with the ECD, one conversation, one connection, and one team at a time.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜’𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵? 

What could this look like if organisational leaders embraced this - if all levels of our organisations prioritised and valued wellbeing and emotional culture?