Team Values & Culture Workshop
Co-creating an internal “how we work together” charter with Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
In many companies there’s a growing desire for change — not only in processes or structures, but especially in the way people relate to one another: How do we speak with each other? How do we make decisions? How do we deal with conflict when things get tense?
Because work takes up a large part of our lives, the quality of our relationships at work strongly shapes our day-to-day wellbeing. A jointly created internal charter gives orientation and psychological safety: it clarifies who you want to be as a team, what you stand for, and how you want to treat each other — on equal footing.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) supports exactly that. It helps you identify the needs and values behind tensions and turn them into clear, workable agreements.
Why an internal charter?
An internal charter is not “just a poster for the intranet.” It’s a shared framework that supports you in everyday work:
- clarity about values, needs, and expectations in how you work together
- guidelines for communication (feedback, meetings, 1:1s, difficult conversations)
- faster, more constructive conflict resolution because you have a shared reference point
- more psychological safety: people are more likely to speak up, ask questions, share concerns, and take responsibility
- relief for leaders and teams because culture is not “held” by individuals — it becomes collectively owned
What you will create in the workshop
By the end of the day you’ll have a concrete internal charter — written in your own words — plus first steps to keep it alive. Typical components include:
- Our internal values: what do we stand for in collaboration?
- Making needs visible: what do we need to feel well and work well (for employees and for those in responsibility roles)?
- How we want to communicate: honest, respectful, and committed — with clear requests instead of hidden criticism
- No-gos & red lines: what undermines trust? what do we want to stop?
- Conflict & tension: how do we address it? how do we repair?
- Decision-making: how do we want to decide (who, when, how transparent)?
- Team rituals & formats: guardrails for feedback, check-ins, 1:1s, meetings, and difficult conversations
How we work: NVC applied to real situations
We work with your real-life team situations — past friction, current tensions, recurring patterns. With NVC, we “unpack” what’s happening so that needs and values become visible and you can turn them into clear agreements — without blame, and with more understanding and actionability.
A key element is also looking at power, roles, and responsibility: Where do old, authoritarian reflexes show up? Where do you need clarity and leadership without “hero leadership”? How can you practice eye-level collaboration even when responsibilities differ?
A short, structured preparation makes the day far more effective.
1) Preparation (lean & focused)
brief intake call (goals, context, team size, typical situations)
optional: anonymous mini-survey on friction points, values, and wishes
2) Workshop day
arrival & shared intention: why do we need a charter?
needs & values work (individual → small groups → whole team)
case work with NVC: translate typical conflicts into needs and actionable requests
writing phase: draft the charter in your own language
making it concrete: examples, no-gos, decision/conflict guidelines
commitments: what will we try in the next 4 weeks?
3) Follow-up (optional)
documentation as a usable team document
optional: 90-minute online check-in after 4–6 weeks to support integration (possible online)
Practicalities
Duration: 1 day
Location: on-site (Berlin) or external location; online by arrangement
Participants: ideally a full team (leadership included depending on goal)
Outcome: more trust, more clarity — and concrete communication tools for everyday work
