Talks aim to make people curious about coworkers

A series of virtual lunchtime conversations invites Central Michigan University community to be curious about each other.

Brown Bag, Big Topics was intentionally designed to get people – faculty, staff, students, administrators – talking candidly in small groups about topics related to … how to relate to each other, said Nikita Murry, director of collaborative learning and engagement.

A big part of that was picking the right time and venue. The conversations are all virtual during the lunch hour so people can participate without having to leave their office and squeezing it in to a busy day.

The topics all center around helping people recognize gaps in their understanding of what makes other people tick and filling those gaps with understanding rather than judgement, Murry said.

“We have gaps because we make judgments and stop being curious,” she said. “We want people to be curious about the people they work with.”

A Brown Bag, Big Topic scheduled for December will use personality types to explore how different people address wellbeing. The conversation will go one step deeper than asking how different personality types relate to the world, she said.

“The value in this conversation is so we can understand personality type and how it shows up in how we engage with each other and demonstrate concern in meaningful ways,” she said.

The conversation will take place in collaboration with Jamie Brown from human resources. Murry said her office wants to partner with experts on campus for various topics. Registration is open.

As an example, people defined as extroverts may get energy from being outwardly social at parties or in an office setting; people defined as introverts might find those situations instead draining, she said.

A good metaphor is what happens when you leave too many apps open on your cell phone. It drains your battery faster than if you opened and closed one app at a time, she said. That distinction is critical to understanding why coworkers do what they do.

When people see coworkers through the lens of their own experiences rather than our own, they can develop more meaningful connections with them.

 Three additional talks are planned for the spring semester. They include:

• A conversation about questions people don’t feel comfortable asking, scheduled for Jan. 13
• A conversation about lightbulb moments people have had about others, scheduled for March 19
• A conversation about respecting the differences of thought to stimulate dialogue that increases understanding, scheduled for May 20

While the topics are different, all Brown Bag, Big Ideas have something in common.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to talk to one another without an agenda,” Murry said. “Just be curious and want to learn something.”