Daily Practices for a More Human-Centered Culture

As a leader within your organization and someone who wants to create a more human-centered culture, you may think a workshop for your organization, department, or team is a great way to jumpstart these efforts and address challenges like:

• Helping staff feel more a part of the organization 

• Building trust with employees 

• Navigating conflict between staff and supervisors 

• Feeling insecure about how to respond to world events 

Workshops absolutely have their place. (I create and facilitate them!) But instead of another workshop series, I encourage you to start with everyday practices you can weave into your existing meetings and routines to address these core challenges.

I offer you five practices that could be used daily or weekly. I invite you to review these and then select one to try for the next few weeks.

1. Start meetings with time for a real question. (Addresses: Building trust + helping staff feel part of the organization)

The Practice: Begin each meeting with 60 seconds (minimum)  for each person to share what's present for them - a success, a challenge, or simply how they're feeling. No advice-giving or problem-solving during this time. (Note: as the leader/manager, make sure to set the tone by being vulnerable and sharing something real here.)
Try one of these questions: 

• “What’s something that’s going well right now, what’s a challenge you’re up against?” 

• “What’s a success or moment of gratitude you want ot share since we last met?” 

• “If this meeting had a weather pattern, what would it be and why? 

• “What’s one thing on your mind that’s rising to the top that you’re holding in addition to your work?” 

• “How are you arriving at work today?”

• “What’s something you’re looking forward to this week?” 

• “On a scale of 1-10, how’s your energy today, and what’s influencing that number?” 

• “What’s something you’re learning about yourself lately?”

• “What’s something you’re feeling proud of? (from this week/today/quarter, etc.) 

Human-Centered Connection: This acknowledges that "work is often personal" and creates space for people to bring their full selves while maintaining healthy boundaries. It also builds interdependence by acknowledging that individual well-being affects collective capacity.

Why It Works: Trust grows when people feel seen and known. This simple ritual transforms a transactional meeting start into a moment of genuine connection.
Pro Tip: This really only works if you give adequate time to the check-in. We all know the difference between a meeting with a check-in question that is just a checkbox vs. a meeting where we are truly invited to share something meaningful to help us go deeper and support our work moving forward.

2. "Conflict as Portal" Check-ins. (Addresses: Conflict between staff and supervisors)

The Practice: During your existing team meetings, spend five minutes asking: "What tension or disagreement might be trying to teach us something?" Frame it as curiosity, not complaint. Follow with: "What would it look like to lean into this generatively?”

Human-Centered Connection: This directly practices welcoming conflict as a portal to stronger relationships, greater trust, and mutual growth. Dominant culture too often favors avoiding conflict or pushing “small things” under the rug until the bumps get too big to ignore. What if we started with the small stuff that we wish we didn’t have to even worry about, but guess what, we do, and we can!  It shifts the organizational narrative from conflict avoidance to conflict engagement.

Why It Works: When conflict becomes expected and normalized as a learning tool, people develop the courage to address issues before they become destructive.

3. End Meetings with "Multiple Truths" Reflection(Addresses: Insecurity about responding to world events)

The Practice: Close meetings by asking: "What are the multiple truths we're holding about [current situation/decision/world event]?" Invite people to name a few of the contradictions without requiring them to resolve them immediately.

Human-Centered Connection:  This cultivates complexity and uncertainty by helping people build more of a practice around knowing that we are, in fact, living in a world FULL of paradox. One way we can continue to hold this is to share it aloud, rather than pretending it isn’t happening. We can hold multiple truths that are hard together. 

Why It Works: In volatile times, the ability to hold complexity without rushing to false certainty creates organizational resilience and reduces anxiety.

4. "Power Weather Report" in Supervision (Addresses: Conflict between staff and supervisors + Building trust)

The Practice: During existing one-on-ones, spend two minutes with both the supervisor and the staff member, briefly naming: "How is power showing up in our relationship right now?" This might sound like: "I'm feeling defensive about feedback," or "I notice I'm holding back my real opinion," or "I'm feeling supported to take risks."

Human-Centered Connection: This is about making power dynamics transparent rather than invisible or pretending they aren’t present. It can be an opportunity to surface challenges that are currently small or that we are noticing happening in that moment, rather than waiting for them to grow larger than life. 

Why It Works: When power differences are named openly and regularly, they lose their ability to fester. Both parties practice, developing fluency in navigating hierarchy, with perhaps a bit more authenticity and less defensiveness.

5. "Ecosystem Check" During Decision-Making (Addresses: Helping staff feel part of the organization + Responding to world events)

The Practice: Before finalizing any significant decision in your existing meetings, pause and ask: "Who else is affected by this choice?" and "How does this connect us to the larger systems we're part of?" Take a few moments to acknowledge the ripple effects. It might give you more information about the process and add a few people to future conversations. +

Human-Centered Connection: This is about recognizing that we are all playing a role in a very interconnected system, and that decision-makers should consider their impact on the wider web of relationships.

Why It Works: When people regularly see how their work connects to something larger, they develop a sense of purpose and agency. It also builds systems thinking that helps organizations respond more wisely to external pressures and changes.

No matter the practice you identify to try, the goal isn't perfection but cultivation. You are working to create the conditions where regenerative culture can grow organically through the rhythm of your existing work together.

Remember: These practices work because they're embedded in the time you're already spending together. The transformation happens through repetition and intention, not additional meetings or complicated processes.

Need some help with this? Reach out!