Why Your Team Should Practice Collective Mindfulness

Mindfulness has been shown to be beneficial in the workplace on a number of fronts, increasing personal well-being as well as tactical skills like decision-making and focus. But if a team’s culture is toxic, the benefits of mindfulness for the individual team members can be lost. To avoid this, authors advocate “team mindfulness,” in which the team takes on three core mindfulness practices as a group. The first, allowing, involves an acceptance of the team’s in-the-moment experiences and avoiding blame. The second, inquiry, is the capacity to be curious about how the team functions. The third, meta-awareness, is the ability to think from the team’s perspective and not just your own.