Consent at Work Workshop Series – Berlin & Cologne
The Consent at Work workshop series was designed to understand different perspectives, establish personal boundaries, respect the boundaries of others, and empower each other to communicate needs effectively. The workshop explored the impact of conscious communication in any non-romantic work relationships in work environments and introduced tools from consent awareness to co-create Safer Spaces at work.
During the half-day workshop, participants delved into creating a work culture that embraced boundaries and safer spaces to build resilient teams. They brainstormed solutions, developed prototypes, and formulated actionable steps to integrate more consent awareness and safer spaces into their workplaces.
However, the workshop wasn't a quick fix for workplace conflicts or a DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) badge. It also wasn't centered on sex-positivity, despite drawing tools and inspiration from it. The intention wasn't to blame, but rather to consciously learn from each other and the past experiences, shaping a direction for co-creating futures with more inclusive and authentic work environments.
See Archived Event Page for all details.
A big thank you to all participants of the “Consent at Work” workshops in Berlin and Cologne! Well done!
I begin any workshop with a thank you and end it with a thank you.
In the beginning, I thank everyone for showing up and everyone's courage to participate in a workshop that is beyond seminar or lecture-styled hours.
Why do I do these workshops? Having #saferspaces everywhere is certainly my vision. To set this direction I formulated my mission to focus on sharing tools to get there. One integral tool that I learned is consent. A practice to be more authentic to oneself, to create more psychological safety, and to empower for more boundary setting. These are things that we certainly need also outside the bedroom.
These are big (buzz)words. So where to begin? Tanja Arnolds and I developed and facilitated the “Consent at Work” #workshop. Here we talked about, discussed, brainstormed, and ideated on consent for five hours. We even played games on #consent for hours. The conclusion of the teams was always the same " The need for more appreciation and respect for setting and communicating boundaries.". Then psychological safety materializes. When we really appreciate each other's boundaries and “No’s” and understand that a “Maybe” is also a “No”. And that only a “Hell yeah!” is a “Yes!”. Only then we have co-created a common ground that can be the foundation of consent-aware negotiations (such as a "No, but instead I could…") and #leadership. We have the #psychologicalsafety to be able to then voice our “No’s” and be more sure that our conversation partner also voices their “No’s” when needed. Making any “Yes!” stronger and more credible. In short: Now we have less assuming, less uncertainty, less hoping, less (ever so hard and failing) mind reading games, and therefore more psychological safety, more (stress-)resilience, more trust, and more clarity.
So, we have to begin with tools on #boundaries first. I invite you to begin right here and now: Next time you hear a “No” say an appreciative and warm “Thank you!”. Responding with an “Ohh, so sad!”, or “Too bad!” often doesn’t help anyone. Not the person hearing it (they probably feel bad and guilty hearing your reaction and are less likely to say a honest "No" to you in the future) nor yourself. Why? Any “No” can hurt because it is a rejection or it is something you wanted to gift to another person but they did not want it. I invite you to consider taking this rejection as an inspiration, respect your own boundaries, too, and communicate them, too. And, perhaps most importantly, hearing a “No” from someone is tremendous proof of the person trusting you: “I can say “No” to them and they will respect it, not hurt me. I feel safe with them saying what I really feel.”
Thank you for saying and appreciating your next “No” – For an even stronger “Yes!”
Much Love 🌈
Thank you Berliner Ideenlabor GmbH and Zach for the spaces.
#boundariesarehealthy #coaching #masterclass #awareness#designthinking
Text also published on LinkedIn
