7. The Basic Needs of colleagues

What is true for any workplace is even more true for the school workplace: it is immensely important to design living and working conditions in such a way that they are conducive and sustainably supportive for all involved. This challenge can be met more easily in a strong team. Experience shows that lone fighters are more prone to self-exploitation or distancing than persons who can draw support and motivation from a functioning team. By working with the five basic needs, the social cohesion and motivation of teams can be strengthened immensely. Here are a few ideas on how to do this:

• Work on this module with a colleague you trust.
• Talk to colleagues about using the European Heart materials in their classrooms and share how it is going.
• Start a meeting with a roundtable discussion.
• Talk about your needs in the team, others will take this as an example and join in.
• Take the Needs Type Questionnaire and share it with colleagues.
• Bring up the topic of basic needs in supervision.
• Form intervision teams and include the concept of basic needs in your case reviews.

Problems with colleagues

Situations are often so complex that it makes sense to first clarify the areas of influence:

Ask yourself:

What is my part in the situation? - What is my responsibility?

Think about what you have said and done as well as about your basic needs behind it.

Which parts of the situation are the responsibility of the colleague?

What did your colleague contribute to the situation? Which of his or her basic needs could be affected?

What about the situation is due to the framework conditions?

Are there also parts of the situation for which neither you nor the colleague are responsible and which you cannot change?

Once you have clarity about your part in the situation, it will be easier for you to find understanding for yourself and for your colleague. Of course, you can also use the Needs-Check that has already been introduced in this module. If you want to discuss the situation with the person concerned, you can use the Contact in Four Steps as a guide.

If you have found out in the previous reflection that the framework conditions have a strong influence on the situation, you can consider together with the colleague:

How can we better deal with these framework conditions without tearing each other down?

Another reason for conflicts with colleagues can be the different prioritisation of the five basic needs. You will learn more about this in the next chapter.