A 20-minute team building session

Science Magazine is one of my favorite publications, mostly for the pictures, and I also enjoy the “Working life” essay which appears at the end of each issue. This week’s Science piece was entitled “Lab meetings shouldn’t feel intimidating. Here’s how I’ve changed mine,” by Georgia Fousteri PhD, a researcher in Milan, Italy. She writes,

At the start of our lab meeting, I did something unconventional: I read my students a poem. “As you set out for Ithaka; hope your road is a long one; full of adventure, full of discovery,” begins “Ithaka” by the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy. Then I asked what the words meant to them.

Imagine that, art being used to kick off a science meeting. Dr Fousteri continues,

I have led a 20-minute team building session at the start of every lab meeting. My lab members and I play parts in inspirational scripts, practice meditation, or do some other activity—including discussing poetry. These sessions have eased tensions and opened minds, helping foster more participation later in the meeting.

What is our hospital and clinic meetings and teaching conferences did the same? This seems like more than team building – it actually has to do with relationship building and personal growth. She continues,

I do not know where this journey with my students will take us. But so far, I feel hopeful about the lab environment we’re creating. My greatest wish is to see my trainees become their best selves, understand who they are and what they want, and reach their career goals. That’s a legacy I can be proud of.

Brilliant. I hope more organizations can include art/music as the number one item on their meeting agendas in 2022.