At first, they looked around in awkwardness, but one started and then the chatter began.
They humoured me, and had opened minds to try what I requested them to – to use a different voice for when the toy was talking back to them.
One lady said, “I am not sure what to do for the next townhall meeting.”
Toy, “Why?”
Lady, “Well, I don’t want to repeat the same thing, because it would be boring.”
Toy, “Why?”
Lady, “We do the same thing every year, and colleagues are not engaged. I want to do something new, but not sure what.”
Toy, “Why?”
Lady (somewhat exasperated perhaps), “Because no one supports me, and I am worried they would laugh at the idea.”
Toy, “Why?”
Lady, “Oh… actually not much reason. It is just my worry.”
Soon enough, the room broke into laughter as they started having conversations with their toys. Silly as it may sound, by the end of a 10-minute conversation, some found solutions to their own problems through coaching themselves, some were able to create distance between themselves and the challenge, see it as less magnified and therefore feel less stressed out. All of them had a good laugh, felt more relaxed, and reenergized.
Bill Lu
Vice President, Global HR, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
呂昌
香格里拉酒店集团全球人才管理副总裁