Newsletter July 2024

Great news for TetraPanel and digital suite users – improvements are on their way!

TetraMap’s innovative digital suite was launched over five years ago to offer a new way of working in the digital learning space.

It’s been a great success, reaching more people in more places. With so many people now working in locally and globally dispersed teams, it saves time and paper, and of course, became a ‘life saver’ for many during the Covid lockdowns.  

Demand has grown, and it was time for us to review and refresh. We wanted to hear from you – the people who use it – before making new enhancements and upgrades. Thank you to our community across the globe for your contributions.

Brett Baker, Chief Technology Officer, TetraMap International, explains: “The great news is that your feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Two key benefits came across in almost every interview – simplicity and speed.“ Based on your suggestions, we will be making changes to four key areas of the TetraPanel. These include security, functionality in the panel, better management for larger organisations and extra TetraPanel training.

“We are excited to be able to improve the offering and give our facilitators a better and more adaptable tool to aid their facilitation of TetraMap. Keep your eye out for our progress as we roll these out later in the year.”

What you can expect

• Advanced security on the panel with a new two-factor authentication to ensure profiles and data stay secure.
• Improved graphing and functionality in the panel to allow facilitators to better convey the message and meaning of the instrument results.
• Enhancements to the panel’s ability to handle big groups and service the needs of our corporate users like KPMG with multiple facilitators. This will allow better management of multiple facilitators, tokens and results across larger organisations.
• More training, help, info and sharing on using the TetraPanel. Over the next few months look out for Teach and Learn sessions to get the most out of the TetraPanel and to discover the new and exciting enhancements.

Leading the Multi-generational Workforce the TetraMap way.

TetraMap is playing a unique role in helping the multigenerational teams of the future towards better communication and understanding according to Mark Doughty, who extensively used TetraMap in his work with global professional services company KPMG, and has recently moved to a new role as Director, People at Kroll (risk and financial advisory). 

Mark has worked in learning for over 30 years and is experienced in psychological testing and profiling tools. In a recent video he highlights how the simplicity of TetraMap strikes a chord with Gen X and Gen Y and is a great tool to create collaboration and brings together different perspectives.

“It’s a real life-changer for some. I can recall numerous chats in the corridor after an immersive TetraMap session – certainly with the younger generation where people have been transformed. It’s often the first time they’ve had some feedback about themselves and worked with an older population, and likewise an older population working with young people.”

Mark has seen first-hand the how this valuable experience has a positive influence on their ability to adapt in the workplace where client teams are made up of many different ages, groups and experience.

Ruth Robinson, General Manager TetraMap UK and Europe, has seen this reflected in her discussions with TetraMap facilitators and suggests these differences hold immense potential for growth and innovation for TetraMap.

“Understanding the dynamics at play is crucial. Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z each bring unique perspectives, experiences, and approaches to the table. However, miscommunications, stereotypes, unconscious bias and conflicting work styles can often lead to misunderstandings and hinder collaboration.”

“We’re passionate about improving communication and we know TetraMap is a fantastic tool for building bridges across generations and unlocking the full potential of our workforce. TetraMap facilitators are in the perfect position to cultivate new workplaces that are not only productive but also inclusive, resilient, and inspiring.”

Next month we delve deeper into the opportunities for TetraMap in multigenerational teams with Master Facilitator and global business woman Olive Strachan MBE, ChCCIPD who specialises in leadership and development.

Why TetraMap is so suited to the public sector

Public sector organisations such as local governments are facing unprecedented challenges and major financial pressures. These organisations often have limited time and limited budget to get their teams together and are looking for something practical and goal focused that also relieves the pressure on teams.

UK company Change and Transformation has built up over 40 years of experience of working with organisations on how to change, how to develop new behaviours and how to cope with change. Directors Ollie and Laura Mack understand there are times when the change process needs to be more transformative, or when individuals or a team struggle with the pace or need for change. For nearly ten years Ollie has been using TetraMap with public sector clients, who need their investment in coaching and development to make as big an impact as possible in a short time.

Change and Transformation work with teams against a backdrop of major financial pressures and often a history of cuts and staffing reviews. In addition, there can be regularly changing priorities depending on the political climate. The range of roles within the organisations are wide and varied and include working with children’s and adult’s services, finance and HR.

Ollie explains: “When we work with public sector clients, we find these are usually teams with very strong operational focus working within complex and large organisational structures. The demand for collaboration is high, but there is often very little room for investment in developing the team and ways of working. The focus on service delivery and residents comes above all else.”

“Since covid we have also noticed a real impact on resilience. Teams were often redeployed during covid or were working under restrictions that hugely impacted on relationships. Individuals can feel frustrated and overburdened, and that puts real pressure on the team’s ability to collaborate effectively.”

‘Why Are You Like That’ – the fast track to understanding behaviours.

Most often the first engagement with a team will be to run a short workshop – around half a day -using the TetraMap ‘Why Are You Like That?’ booklet.

Ollie often finds that groups are initially quite apprehensive about engaging and sharing – there’s a level of protection – people are trying to shield themselves. However, with TetraMap they quickly break the ice, creating a space for individuals to share stories about the ways their preferences play out and who they really are.

Ollie continues: “We find ways to share the value in each of the four elements to the team – we use music and we use our expert facilitation skills – and we watch the pressure reduce across the team as they start to accept that people really are different in quite fundamental ways – and that’s ok!”

“We’ve never had a TetraMap workshop without two things – the ‘aha’ moment and laughter. Even within that short half-day workshop we find that individuals start to relate the model to their day-to-day – suddenly they understand why they experience friction or frustration and things become immediately easier.”

The longevity of TetraMap

Ollie believes one of the strengths of TetraMap is how memorable it is, and regularly come across individuals and teams they worked with years ago who still describe themselves in TetraMap language.

“We find that teams take it back to the office and usually there’s a real excitement and energy around sharing personal stories. It quickly becomes part of the language of the team.”

“We also find a TetraMap workshop is often the start of a broader team engagement – in fact, it provides a really good basis for working on some of the knotty challenges such as developing effective collaboration between teams with different goals, which is a common challenge in local government.”

Are you making the most of your Nature at Work metaphor cards?

All Certified TetraMap Facilitators have one deck of Nature at Work metaphor cards included in their certification resources – but are you making the most of them?

TetraMap’s playful, interactive and kinaesthetic approach are all designed to make learning easy and memorable. At the heart of its success is the use of nature as a metaphor.

Louise Duncan, Director TetraMap International, explained: “Using the metaphor cards as an opening activity is a great way to engage all of your participants and get them to that curious and ready-to-learn level.”

“Providing people with an opportunity for self-exploration and smaller scale discussion first primes them for wider group discussions throughout the rest of your session. The images selected for the cards reflect many options and many perspectives.”

“Using metaphor is powerful. It means there are many right answers as a metaphor can never be wrong! We often discuss the importance of valuing multiple perspectives and eliciting the wisdom of the group.”

The cards encourage people to open up at a level they are comfortable with and to quickly connect with the topic at hand. Some may begin cautiously with superficial info, others may dive in and go deeper if that’s more natural for them. The visual nature of the cards bridge the interaction, helps make it easier to build relationships, show empathy, reduce conflict and elevate trust.

Louise continued: “People have told us they find it easy to tell their story when it’s linked to a picture. They simply love to hold onto ‘their’ card choices and notice it’s subtleties and details once it is in their hand. The same card can be given an entirely different meaning by a different person. The storytelling and creative approach come to life as you listen and hear connections being made. Even with a difficult or sensitive topic, you’ll notice someone using a card to ‘lighten’ the situation. Laughter and learning often go hand in hand.”

The Nature at Work metaphor cards were created by Master TetraMap Facilitator, Robyn Walshe, based in Perth Australia. She wanted to use her interest in photography combined with the idea of using cards and developed a set of images specifically to open conversations and help people to relax.

Louise added: “Metaphor is compelling and engaging to people of all types of intelligence, or ‘different kinds of smarts’. In any group, at any level, and with any topic, participants engage with each other, smile, laugh and experience a level of energy that will carry on throughout the workshop, coaching or counselling session.”

“The cards look professional and provide an immediate engagement factor – but most of all – we love that these cards have been made by our community for our community!”

Each deck of cards has 40 different images and include ideas from Robyn for conversation starters. Portable, lightweight and durable, the cards are treated with a planet-friendly coating and are designed to be reused to last many years (if you can hold onto them for that long – as they’re great gifts!). The cards are sold in packs of three with different backs for easy sorting and can be purchased from the TetraMap website. 

“The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor; it is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity of the dissimilar. To master and use metaphor is a sign of genius”
– Aristotle