I always love working with teams, especially in helping them engage and build group dynamics. One of the most recent works I did was with Moniheli.
Moniheli is a non-profit organisation that helps immigrants’ integration and social inclusion in Finland. Specific thematic areas that they focus on include housing, education, health, digitalisation and employment.
Nora, the communication specialist, booked a group and portrait session with me last week. I also proposed a team day with the members to help them get to know each other more, and I was happy that they agreed to do the team building session as they mainly worked online in the past year.
I used my self-love & confidence coaching tool for team building. As a photographer, the self-love session is really important because it helps make the team at ease. The session is here to break their barriers, understand their strength, and help them feel comfortable with one another, especially if it’s the first time they meet in person.
During the group session, we went through the practical, emotional, rational and spiritual part of self-love. I joined in the conversation to make them feel at ease to share their personal experiences.
Listening to their stories made me look back at my experience with an NGO. I was a leader of an NGO, and, similar to their sentiments, my team and I would always put the needs of others first.
I always felt that I wasn’t enough, making it more difficult for me to see my worth and strengths. This then had a domino effect on my team; they, too, didn’t appreciate what they were doing fully.
So, to change this mindset, I added another activity. I gave each of them beautiful cards and told them to write three things that they loved about themselves. After they were done, I asked them to exchange cards with their teammates and write one thing they liked about that person.
This exercise is very important because what they wrote on the card will positively remind them.
During the photoshoot, I decided to group them into two; I encouraged the first group to discuss the results of the self-love session while I was photographing the second group and vice versa.
We then did group photos. At the end of the day, everyone got more than 20 good shots to choose from for their new headshots that presented their best.
A few days after the photoshoot, Husu called me and was appreciative of the session. He told me that the self-love session and photoshoot had a positive impact on the team.
“We got more than what we expected,” Husu added. They didn’t expect that they’d be getting more than just being photographed on the day.
I was really happy when he said that they’d continue what they learned from the workshop. They said they’ll continue the exercise where they appreciate themselves and appreciate one another to continue to grow and help other people.
As a photographer and self-love coach, my message to my clients is to always love themselves, be comfortable on their own skin, and be kind to themselves. When we practice these three in our lives, we’ll not only look better in photographs, but we’ll also feel and live better.
Are you ready to learn more about your team, get to know each member, and capture these moments? If yes, then let’s schedule a free consultation.