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Hold the Space for Team Performance

Excerpt from Lead Conversations that Count: How Busy Managers Run Great Meetings
(Rowntree Press, 2021)

I was introduced to the concept of “holding the space” when attending my first shadow work transformational seminar with Debbie Ford in California in 2001. It seemed very important for the people running this three-day immersive experience, but I took it very literally. “How can you hold space?” I wondered. “Space isn’t something you can touch or hold. It’s invisible.”
As I continued in my coaching training and started to assist and mentor people going through coaching training, these transformational intensives were often highly charged and emotional experiences. I quickly realized the importance of the concept of space in providing a safe environment in which people can work. In my assisting days, holding the space wasn’t just about listening and supporting people. It included thinking about arranging the chairs and the assistants physically around the room to provide a calming and supportive presence just by sitting there.

Setting an intention for how you were going to show up in the room, so that you could support the collective process of discovery and discussion is so important. Our energy and presence has a powerful impact on others, so it’s crucial to think about how you are showing up. Are you holding the space with certainty and confidence, or are you in the space pulling focus to some individual discomfort or challenge you may be feeling? As you navigate the complexity of human dynamics, it’s great to be able to notice when your ability to powerfully hold space for others is wavering or you’ve been derailed and no longer present because you encountered a personal blind spot. Have a game plan for what you need to re-calibrate yourself so you can bring your intention back to the group as a whole.

Creating the appropriate space for your conversation is like planting a garden. There is an entire ecosystem to consider that is ever-changing, and you need to be responsive to those changes. Select the best location, and notice how much sunlight it gets. Prepare the ground by removing rocks and weeds, then work the soil and add mulch or other amendments to hold water. When the soil is ready, you plant the seeds to the right depth. Your garden requires constant care to water and fertilize it, pull out weeds, and prune back the plants to remove parts that are no longer viable and are taxing the root system. You might find you need to build a fence around the garden, to keep out critters that want to nibble tender plant shoots as they emerge from the ground.

But a garden isn’t all about the work of planting and tending. It’s also about taking a step back to appreciate its beauty, to marvel at how it changes over the seasons. One joy of cultivating a garden is to bring its bounty out into the world, perhaps through a bouquet of flowers or learning how to make a tasty zucchini bread from your vegetable patch. As you hold space for your team conversations, remember to step back and acknowledge the progress and possibilities that emerge when you tap into the wisdom of a group.

Take Action

Your meeting starts well before it officially begins. Think about how you can create the optimal participant experience and look at what you can do before, during and after the session to create the conditions for psychological safety, clarity and innovative thinking. From sharing an agenda, to defining norms of how people treat each other, to following through as promised, there are many ways to ensure that you create the optimal environment for people to do their best work together.

Resources

Heather Plett has numerous helpful articles on the concept of “holding space” that are available at www.heatherplett.com/holdingspaceresources/

Author Information: This is an excerpt from Lead Conversations that Count: How Busy Managers Run Great Meetings by Carolyn Ellis (Rowntree Press, 2021). For more information on the book, please visit www.LeadConversationsThatCount.com. This article may be shared provided the author information is included.