How can the commma Focus-Cards be used?
To help you get the most out of your cards, here are some ideas, suggestions, and instructions.
Your commma Focus-Cards
Nice to have the Focus-Cards in your hands! To get the most out of them for you and your team, we recommend that you read this quick guide first. There are 30 cards in your Focus-Card set. Each Focus-Card focuses on a different important collaboration topic. On the back of each card you will find three questions, each for a different level: The personal level, the team level, and the organizational level.
What is the purpose of the focus cards?
The Focus-Cards are a powerful tool for creating a new leadership culture. They enable eye-level discussions with employees that address the needs of team members while bringing important issues to the table. This fosters a cultural shift towards more openness and value orientation, which is particularly inspiring for ambitious employees and allows them to experience „new work“ and modern leadership in a very tangible way.
Overview of Focus-Card Topics
The topics of the Focus-Cards are derived from the scientifically proven „Big Five“ personality model. Each color represents one dimension. Aspects of both a strong and a less strong manifestation of that dimension appear in each case, helping to ensure that all issues are considered from different angles.
Openness – Consistency (green):
- Creativity
- Tolerance
- Learning
- Pragmatism
- Safety
- Consistency
Conscientiousness – Flexibility (blue):
- Competence
- Structure
- Responsibility
- Change
- Risk Taking
- Decisiveness
Extraversion – Introversion (red):
- Enthusiasm
- Communication
- Activity
- Independence
- Focus
- Reflection
Collaboration – Competitiveness (orange):
- Trust
- Agreement
- Empathy
- Enforcement
- Challenge
- Success
Emotional Stabiliy – Sensitivity (yellow):
- Caution
- Mindfulness
- Sensitivity
- Composure
- Confidence
- Resilience
How you can use these cards
In the appraisal interview
The focus cards are ideal for use in appraisal interviews. You can proceed as follows:
Interview Preparation
Preperation as a leader
Choose 3 to a maximum of 5 cards that you would like to talk about. The following questions may help you:
- What aspects of the collaboration do I find most valuable?
- In which areas could improvement be made?
- Where do I see potential for positive future developments?
Take time to reflect on why you have chosen these cards.
Preparation for employees
Give your team members a chance to prepare for your meeting. This encourages a more equal exchange. Also, have them choose 3-5 cards for the conversation that are currently relevant to their collaboration. What is going well? What could be done better? How is collaboration going between the manager, within the team, and with other teams in the organization?
Provide your employees with the cards and questions so that they can prepare well for the conversation.
In conversation
Bring your cards into the conversation. Place the card you want to talk about on the table. Explain to the other person what prompted you to choose the card, what feelings are associated with it, and what specific request you have for the other person. The questions on the back can help you explore and reflect on the card’s theme.
But it is also perfectly fine to talk only about your personal understanding of the words on the front.
Give the other person space to explain his or her perspective on the topic.
Go through all the selected focus cards together.
At the end
Write down the results of your discussion and your agreements. Reflect together on how everyone felt about the meeting, what went well, and what could be done differently next time.
You can use our templates for both the preparation and the results.
For personal reflection
Self-reflection using the Focus-Cards is a creative and visual way to explore your own values, beliefs, and priorities. Here are some steps for organizing your self-reflection using the Focus-Cards:
1. Personal selection:
Choose the cards that appeal to you at first glance or that resonate with you. These may be values that you already hold dear, or values that you would like to explore further. Alternatively, you can sort the cards into three piles: very important, somewhat important, not so important. Then focus on the pile of very important values. Try to reduce this pile as much as possible, so that you have a maximum of 5-6 cards in the pile with the values that are really important to you.
2. Reflection on selected values:
Think about each value you have chosen. Ask yourself why this value is important to you and how it is important in different areas of your life. At what stage of your life did you learn about this value? Who taught you the value or made you aware of it? The reflection questions on the back of the cards can help you with this.
3. Define a value hierarchy:
Arrange the selected values in a hierarchy. Think about which two values are core to you and which are peripheral.
4. Link to goals and decisions:
Consider how your core values relate to your long-term goals, career choices, and personal relationships. Consider whether your current activities and decisions are consistent with these values.
5. Identify challenges:
Consider whether there are areas in your life where there are challenges that may be due to inconsistencies between your values and your actions.
6. Recognize strengths and potential
Identify the strengths and potential that come from your core values. How can you use these values to create positive change in your life?
7. Set goals:
Based on your prioritized values, you can set clear goals that align with your values. This helps you stay focused and consciously align your actions.
8. Regular updates:
Take time to periodically review and update your selected values. As your circumstances change over the years and as you evolve both professionally and personally, it is important to review your values from time to time to see if they are still relevant to you.
9. Visualization:
It can also be helpful to create a visual representation of your chosen values and value hierarchy. The Focus-Cards can be a great help – they are easy to lay out on the table, move around and arrange. This can also be done in the form of a mind map, a chart, or a personal values profile.
In Coaching
In coaching, the Focus-Cards can be used as an effective tool to identify, reflect and integrate the coachee’s personal values. Here are some ways the Focus-Cards can be used in coaching:
1. Exploring values:
The coachee should look at a selection of focus cards and select those that appeal to them the most or that they can most identify with. It can be helpful to work with three piles: Important, somewhat important and not important. Particular attention should then be paid to the cards in the pile labelled ‚Important‘. If there are too many cards, it can help to encourage the coachee to go through the ‚Important‘ pile again and put some cards in the ’somewhat important‘ pile. The coachee should be encouraged to talk about their selections and reflect on their individual meaning. This can help to develop a deeper understanding of one’s own values.
2. Value Hierarchy:
Ask the coachee to place the selected values in a hierarchy to determine which values are most important to him or her. This hierarchy can be used to guide decision-making and prioritization.
3. Resolving Conflicts:
When the coachee is faced with value conflicts or difficulty making decisions, the Focus-Cards can be used to relate different values and identify possible solutions.
4. Goals and Motivation:
Use the focus cards to help the coachee formulate clearer goals that are in line with his or her personal values. This can increase intrinsic motivation.
5. Self-reflection:
Use the Focus-Cards as a starting point for self-reflection. Have the coachee think about how their current activities and decisions are connected to the selected values.
6. Identify blockages:
When the coachee encounters obstacles or blockages, the Focus-Cards can help determine if there are discrepancies between one’s values and current life circumstances.
7. Life Balance::
Work with the coachee to create a visual representation or chart that shows in which areas of life the personal values are strongly represented and in which areas there may be potential for improvement.
8. Develop action plans:
Based on the values identified, you can work with the coachee to develop concrete steps and action plans to make positive changes in their lives.
For Team Building
The Focus-Cards can be used in a team-building workshop to get team members to reflect on important values and discuss the team’s foundation together. Here are some ideas:
1. Think about collaboration:
Each team member should select one or more Focus-Cards that best represent the aspects of working with others that are important to that team member. In larger groups, two or three people can select cards together. Have them select cards for things that are currently going well in the team and those that have potential for improvement.
Then have participants share their choices and explain why these aspects are important to them. Place the cards on a bulletin board or on the floor in a circle of chairs: positive cards on one side, improvement cards on the other. This can encourage an open discussion about individual perspectives. The reflection questions on the back of the cards can help to deepen the chosen values together. This can lead to common agreements on how to treat each other.
2. Value Sorting:
Shuffle the Focus-Cards and distribute 3 cards to each team member. Ask participants to sort the cards according to personal priority and identify the values that are most important to them. In groups, members can compare their results and decide together which values are important for the whole team.
3. Values exercises:
Encourage group activities based on the selected values. This will encourage the practical application of the values in different situations and show how they can be integrated into the daily work routine. Describe situations/cases from your daily work in which the selected values were not implemented or were difficult to implement. Discuss with the team how to behave better.
4. Feedback:
Establish regular feedback mechanisms where team members can tell each other how they are experiencing the common aspects of working together as a team. For example, you can use this as a regular meeting checkout. This promotes transparency and strengthens your collaboration.
5. Define action steps:
Challenge participants to identify concrete actions based on the shared values of collaboration. This can encourage the implementation of behaviors or practices in the team. The reflection questions on the reverse side can help with this.
6. Vision und Mission:
Use the Focus-Card topics as a basis for developing a team vision, mission, and specific team goals. Where do we want to go? How do we want to be perceived as a team? How will we achieve this? This ensures that the issues and values of collaboration are not only discussed, but also integrated into the strategic direction of the team.
Creation of a requirements profile
Creating a requirement profile using Focus-Cards can be a creative approach to identifying the desired qualities and characteristics for a specific position or task. The following are the steps to create a requirement profile using focus cards:
1. Definition of position and critical situations:
First, think about the position for which you want to create a job profile. Then make a note of the difficult or critical situations that arise in that position. It is worthwhile to collect critical situations together as a team. This will give you multiple perspectives. This is an important basis for defining the characteristics a person should have for the position.
2. Select the appropriate Focus-Cards:
Then select Focus-Cards that represent different qualities and characteristics that are relevant to handling critical situations in a positive way.
The selection can be done either as a team or individually. If the selection is made as a team, each participant looks at the focus cards and selects one that he or she feels best fits the requirements of the position. The selected characteristic is explained and justified. If more than one person is doing this, you will discuss as a team which aspects are important and which you want to give higher priority to. This promotes understanding and coordination within the team. The prioritized traits are then finalized together and added to if necessary.
3. Define concrete, positive behavioral anchors:
Associate the selected traits with concrete, positive behaviors that a person with that trait exhibits. Ask yourself: In what specific behavior do you see a positive manifestation of this trait? This will make the requirements profile more specific.
4. Visualization and customization:
Create a table that visually represents the selected values and associated behavioral anchors. Review the requirements profile you created and make adjustments as needed. It is important to ensure that all relevant aspects have been considered.
5. Integration into the selection process:
The requirement profile created should be integrated into the selection process for the position to be filled. This can be done when recruiting new team members or when evaluating existing employees and can help to objectively evaluate and compare different candidates.
In a selection interview, the Focus-Cards can also be used to ask the candidate to select characteristics that they feel best represent their approach. This can provide insight into how a candidate works.
Further ideas
There are many creative ways to use the focus cards in different contexts. Here are a few ideas:
Icebreaker activity:
Use the cards as an icebreaker in meetings or workshops. Each participant chooses a card and shares his or her thoughts about how that value influences his or her behavior and why that value is important to him or her. The personal questions on the back of the cards can help.
Conflict Management:
When conflicts arise within a team, the Focus-Cards can be used to visualize the different values held by team members. This can help to share different perspectives, promote common understanding, resolve misunderstandings and communication difficulties, and prevent conflicts before they escalate.
Leadership development:
Leaders can use Focus-Cards to reflect on their own leadership values and share them with their team. This can improve communication and build trust.
Strategy development:
In business strategy, values maps can be used to identify the company’s core values and ensure that the strategy is aligned with those values.
Learning and development programs:
Focus-Cards can be used in training or continuing education programs to discuss topics such as ethical behavior, intercultural communication, or diversity.
Family or community events:
Use the values cards in family or community events to identify shared values and strengthen cohesion.
The versatility of the Focus-Cards makes them a useful tool in a variety of contexts, whether for professional development goals, team building, personal reflection, or creative processes. The key is to use the cards in a way that meets the goals and needs of the specific context.
Your ideas are wanted
There are no limits to your creativity! Do you have your own ideas or exciting ways to use the Focus-Cards? We are always open to new suggestions and would love to hear your experiences and ideas. Whether it’s team building, personal development or innovative workshop methods, let us know how you use the Focus-Cards and enrich our concept with your unique ideas. Your suggestions are a valuable source of inspiration and help us to continually expand the variety and uses of the Focus-Cards. We look forward to hearing from you!