Needs and Brings

Create space for team members to share what they plan to contribute — through their experience, talents, and commitments — and what they need to thrive, feel motivated, valued, and safe. Sharing needs and brings builds trust and lays a foundation for sustainable collaboration and opportunity to leverage team strengths.

Preparing for This Activity

Anticipated Duration: 1–2 hours
Preparation Level: Low-Mid
Suitable for: In person and remote meetings
Materials:
- Needs and Brings handout

Roadmap

Frame the purpose for the exercise by:

Sharing the value of self-awareness of what we need from and bring to the team.
Explaining the value of building a shared understanding of individual and collective needs.
Recognizing value in the diverse and plentiful contributions each of us brings to the work of the team.
Engaging in the practice of dialogue to strengthen cohesion and communication.

Instructions

1. Set the tone with a check-in.

Questions:
- What do we want everyone to experience as members of this team?
- What is your greatest hope for our team culture?
Give 1–2 minutes for individual reflection or send in advance of gathering.
Invite team members to check in with introductions and their responses to one or both of these questions.

2. Needs and Brings

Set up the exercise as a 1 – 2 – 4 – All process.

1 – Individual Reflection (3–5 minutes).

Provide the Needs and Brings handout to team members or create a shared document for individuals to capture their needs and brings.
If needed, below are examples of what individuals might consider in creating their needs and brings lists.
Needs
- Within the context of your/our work, what do you need?
- What do you need to work effectively with your colleagues? In a team?
- What do you need to show up however you need to?
- What do you need to feel supported?
- What might you need to be held accountable?

Brings
- Within the context of your/our work, what do you bring?
- What do you bring to support your colleagues and the whole team?
- What do you bring to contribute to your own, your colleagues, and the whole team’s growth and development?
- What do you bring to cultivate a safe and trusting work environment for yourself and your colleagues?

2 – Pair and Share (5–10 minutes)

Ask team members to pair up and share their Needs and Brings reflections with each other.

4 – Two pairs form a quad (8 minutes)

Ask two pairs to combine and share takeaways from their pair and share discussions.
Ask quads to capture what they notice across their Needs and Brings that they will be invited to share in the large group.

3. Team Commitments

Invite quads to share their takeaways from individual reflections and group discussions.
Next use these insights to co-create team commitments that will support collective needs and leverage collective brings.
- Ask two quads to join and draft commitments using the Triple 5 Rule:
  - 15 minutes to identify five shared commitments.
  - Each statement is 10 words or less.

Emphasize that these are first drafts. Avoid wordsmithing for now.
After 15 minutes, invite each quad to share their five draft commitments.
Celebrate the drafts and explain that we are going to continue to develop these commitments over time by practicing and experimenting with them.

4. Practice and Experimentation

Encourage the team to experiment with commitments for 30 days.
- Reference them in meetings and colleague workgroups.
- Notice what works and what needs adjustment.
- Notice what might be missing or where there is opportunity for merging.
Schedule a one-hour revisit session after 30 days to refine language and update commitments.

Closing Thoughts

Invite team members to annually revisit and revise their individual Needs and Brings and reflect on how these updates may require adjustments to the team’s shared commitments. Encourage the team to celebrate practice and experimentation as evidence of living into those commitments; this reinforces that agreements are dynamic and adaptable, not static.