Abstract
PurposeCollaboration and psychological safety are key factors to effective teams. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) has emerged over the past decade as a development tool used in both educational and workplace settings for a range of purposes. In this study, the authors sought to investigate the impact of the experience of participating in a LSP away-day on the collaboration and psychological safety of the participants.Design/methodology/approachIn this study the subjective experience of participants of LSP workshop awaydays using a coaching approach were examined through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Members of two teams were invited to participate in team awaydays and approximately six weeks later, they were invited to share their reflections on the experience and its impact on team relationships and team performance.FindingsThe interviews revealed that participants' felt experience of engaging with LSP was positive, created closer bonds within the team and a better understanding of each other and the challenges which the team were facing. Participants reported a tangible change in the way they are collaborating and engaging not only just with fellow participants but also with other colleagues.Originality/valueThe experience of the participants in this study supports the view that LSP can have a positive role to play in developing psychological safety and collaboration in organisational teams and that there was a lasting impact on group norms which was sustained after the event.
Highlights
Collaborative work within organisations has increased dramatically over the last 20 years as noted by Cross et al.’s (2016) longitudinal analysis across more than 300 organisations
The participants were unaware that they were going to be spending the awayday engaging in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) and for some, initially seeing the LEGO® on their tables had an immediate effect on their emotions: When I came in and I saw the LEGO®, I felt really, I felt quite excited and quite enthusiastic about it, because everybody in any meeting that you normally have, you know, within the teams, it’s so easy to be distracted by other things, but with LEGO®, it was just, it was like, as a bunch of friends playing with LEGO® but getting something out of it really. (B)
This study has revealed that participants’ felt experience of engaging with LSP contributed to perceptions of enhanced collaborative working and a greater sense of psychological safety
Summary
Collaborative work within organisations has increased dramatically over the last 20 years as noted by Cross et al.’s (2016) longitudinal analysis across more than 300 organisations. © Stephanie Wheeler, Jonathan Passmore and Richard Gold. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http:// creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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