For the third time, members of the Division of Immunology, which counts allergy-immunologists and rheumatologists within its ranks, made good use of a Wednesday afternoon in order to ensure that everyone agreed on division goals, priorities, and values.
Meeting nearby the university campus and in sight of Kinnick Stadium, members helped themselves to a sandwich bar and salad. Division Director Benjamin Davis, MD, PhD, then welcomed everyone and restated the goals of the next few hours. He also detailed some recent successes and welcomed some new members who had recently joined the team.
Heather Moody, MCC, an independent consultant and meeting facilitator, had also returned after helping guide the group through their first retreat in 2023. She reminded the group of some of the conclusions they had reached then and led a discussion on what needed to be adjusted since then. The two dozen members in attendance were honest, offering constructive assessments of the division’s current status and the challenges that exist.
Smaller group discussions ensued and results were shared with the rest of the group, which Moody annotated for later reference. She also led volunteers in a team-building exercise called “the helium stick,” requiring careful balance and communication in order to lower a long, thin straw to the ground. Moody reported that this team lowered it faster than anyone she had ever seen in nearly three decades.
This positive reinforcement helped shape the remaining afternoon’s strategy sessions. They discussed needed adaptations, specific behaviors worth celebrating, and how to ensure realistic and actionable feedback could become a stronger element in the culture.
After only a few hours, an already tightly bonded division solidified their community and emerged with a clear road map for the coming year.
