With the normalizing of hybrid and remote working models, there is now a growing concern among business leaders about how their employees can maintain a level of human connection within their respective teams. And that’s why Dubai-based consultancy Cosmic Centaurs has come up with a prompt card game called Cosmic Conversations that it believes can lead to the development of better-connected teams.

By listing over 100 conversation starters, this game’s prompt cards aim to help break the ice between colleagues in a team, while also encouraging deeper conversations among themselves. “At Cosmic Centaurs, we believe connected teams are happy teams, but this doesn’t just happen by chance,” says Marilyn Zakhour, CEO and founder of Cosmic Centaurs. “Building relationships in distributed and hybrid settings in particular requires intentionality. So, we wanted to create a way for teams to have a fun time together, and not feel like their interactions and conversations should be limited to work!”

Marilyn Zakhour, CEO and founder, Cosmic Centaurs. Source: Cosmic Centaurs

The Cosmic Conversations cards deck covers four different themes, each of which are color-coded, and are spread across 52 prompt cards. Two of these themes pertain to work-related topics, while the other two explore one’s personal life. The “Work Time” cards include questions about work habits, preferences, and experiences, whereas the “How’s Work?” ones are meant to enable open feedback with your teammates in order to foster trust. There are also cards that encourage more personal conversations titled “Story Time” and “What If…”

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While “Story Time” helps employees gain better insight into their peers’ lives outside of work, “What If…” aims to showcase the values they believe in by finding out what they would do in hypothetical situations. “Each card features an “Icebreaker’ question and a “Dig Deeper’ question on the same topic,” adds Zakhour. “The “Icebreaker’ allows you to start a conversation with a simple question, whereas the “Dig Deeper’ questions create an opportunity for you to further explore the topic.”

The game is built on the concept of “emotional acknowledgment,” which is a key driver of Cosmic Centaurs as an enterprise. Zakhour describes it as an aspect of corporate communication that can help in negating unhealthy activities like workplace gossip and unwarranted rumors. “There is a strong link between emotional acknowledgement and preventing unhealthy practices at work,” she says. “As a team leader, when you enable a culture where people can openly talk about how they feel, and are encouraged to be there for one other, you’re also creating a bond between team members.”

As the UAE, much like the rest of the world, slowly adapts to hybrid working models, Zakhour is hopeful that her enterprise can play a key role in creating healthy workplace communications in companies across the country. “By bringing people together and allowing them to connect as humans, Cosmic Conversations plays a very important role in the health of individuals and teams,” Zakhour concludes. “They create impact beyond just having fun during calls, which in and of itself, is a worthy outcome.”

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