We work with all kinds of teams to build more grief-ready workplaces, from small non-profits to major corporations to governments in the US and Canada.
Reach out to us at workplace@thedinnerparty.org with any questions or if you’d like to bring our workshops directly to your organization.
We bring peer-to-peer support practices into organizations to better support employees who are struggling with loss. We reestablish trust after difficult times and use the shared experience to build a deeply connected, energized and effective culture.
“As part of my DNA I believe that approaching others with empathy always wins. [...] to learn that my lack of preparation could have a deep, lasting impact on people going through the hardest moments in their lives lit a fire inside of me to do better. Several years later, it’s absolutely the best learning opportunity I’ve had to date.”
Why Workplaces? Why Now?
A consistent theme heard around The Dinner Party table is how going back to work following a loss can be one of two polarities. For some Dinner Partiers, work becomes an anchoring community, a restorer of confidence, and a place for forward motion. More often, however, going back to work is deeply challenging and full of mismanaged expectations, compounding the feeling of isolation and overwhelm that can come with grief. There are simple solves — skills to build, conversations to practice — but teams require guidance to get there.
In this moment of global pandemic, those dynamics are amplified. What was once a hidden issue— grief and loss— is now in the foreground. No one will be unscathed by loss, and it’ll be up to employers to ensure their teams have the moments of care and reflection, hard and soft skills, and additional support to transition into this new normal.
Facing Loss in the Workplace
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Loss isn’t an easy thing to explore under any circumstances, but it was powerful to see how everyone around the table came together. I left feeling so inspired.
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Being There in the Workplace
A collection of dos and don’ts from people who’ve experienced significant loss—namely, the death of a parent, sibling, partner, child, or close friend— and then gone back to work. This guide is made up of some of the key things— big and small— they wished their colleagues had known to offer, or to avoid.
How we work:
Interactive talks with teams
- Debunk taboos and myths about grief, loss, and vulnerability, and sharing what lessons Dinner Partiers have learned about living well after
- Introduce the simple ways to “Be There” for people you work with when they’ve experienced loss, and host conversations about collective grief between colleagues.
Trainings for managers
- Host a training to gain knowledge and develop skills around creating a more supportive and effective work culture following a loss
- Craft your organization’s roadmap to loss in the workplace and ways to create a culture of support for the broader organization
- Develop short-term and long-term strategies and tactics to improving workplace culture for both employees and the organization overall.
Program design and expertise.
Interested in bringing collective care practices into your organization to help hold spaces for grief and loss in their myriad forms? We’re here to design and facilitate experiences with your staff, or provide our expertise to your team as you build initiatives in-house, in a way that suits your cultural needs.
We’ve partnered on collective care initiatives with:
Want to join the list? Email workplace@thedinnerparty.org
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Through the workshop, I discovered how many of us had been affected by loss, and learned how to be a more supportive friend and colleague. I now see myself having hard, but meaningful, conversations with the people I spend so many hours with. This will not only benefit us as individuals, but will lead to a more inclusive culture.
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FAQ’s
+ Is it a good idea to talk about loss in the workplace?
You might be thinking that talking about grief and loss is too risky and too personal for workplace settings. We argue that it's too risky not to talk about it, and to leave managing conversations about reintegrating into the workplace to the whim of water cooler discussions and ill-equipped managers. The elephant is in the room, and it's up to your organization to decide how best to introduce it. We also counsel employers on being there for employees without needing to know any personal details of who, what, where, when and why someone has died. The important part is how we get that person who's struggling back to work in a way that works for the employer, the employee and the team around them, personal details aside.
+What kinds of teams do you work with.
In the same way that grief doesn't discriminate, we work across sectors, and organizational sizes. Some of our clients have included tech unicorns and small nonprofits, wellness conferences and advertising agencies. We can deliver our offerings virtually, or in-person, pending shelter in place restrictions.
+ So, what do you actually do?
We lead talks and trainings for staff and managers, as well as consult with leadership teams to design collective care practices. Contact us via the button below for more information.
+ I would love to bring you into my company. How can I make the case to my boss?
Great! Send them to this website, and let them know you think there's a need within your organization to build both the hard and soft skills of addressing grief and bringing collective care practices into the workplace.
+I'm an individual and would be interested in attending a talk or training. How can I sign up to learn more?
Email us at workplace@thedinnerparty.org with what you're looking for, and we'll go from there.
+Is this work specific to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Nope. We were working to make grief less isolating in the workplace long before shelter-in-place took effect. But we've updated some of that programming, out of a recognition that, in this moment, grief is not only an individual experience, but a collective one, too.