Understand what drives the people you work with
Value Cards helps your team see what drives your collaboration and what gets in its way. Each person sorts 55 value cards on their own, and then you meet and explore the team’s map together. The exercise comes from hundreds of team workshops and works just as well when the team sits in different places.
Each person needs about 25 minutes, and then you meet for one workshop.
The exercise behind hundreds of team workshops, in companies of every size.
“We always run these when starting new teams.”
“A really good way of getting to know your colleagues.”
“I loved discovering how much we have in common since we work so far apart.”
Private first, then together
- 1
Invite your team
Everyone gets their own link by email, whatever their time zone, and you choose when the team meets.
- 2
Sort in private
Each person sorts 55 cards, chooses the five that matter most and writes a line or two about each. Nobody, the manager included, sees any of it before the whole team sees the map together.
- 3
Guess before you see
Everyone guesses a few of each other’s values, shown only as totals, and anyone can name a friction they want the team to look at.
- 4
Meet and look together
In the workshop the map appears for everyone at the same time, and the step by step guide tells whoever runs it what to show and what to ask.
Four questions a team asks, answered on one map
What do we have in common?
Everyone’s five cards appear next to each other, in their own words, and similar cards are never grouped, so nobody disappears into a cluster. The values you share are usually the first surprise.
Where do we pull in different directions?
Six scales show values that pull in opposite directions, such as change and continuity. The distance between people matters more than where anyone stands, and both ends protect something the team needs.
Is this friction really about values?
Anyone can describe a friction they sense and the value they think is behind it. The person it is about answers first, and only then do the maps show whether the two actually differ on that value. Often they do not, and that is the most useful moment of the day.
“Priya wants the decision in the meeting and I want to understand the problem first.”
What did nobody see in each other?
Everyone guesses a few of each other’s cards before the reveal, and the guesses are shown only as totals. The values nobody guessed often start the best conversations of the day.
One of the most common discoveries is that people who frequently clash at work often share more values than they expected.
Viktor Cessan, Why making values explicit is the key to stronger teams
A workshop you can run, and a summary you can act on
The live workshop guide
The workshop runs on every screen, step by step, and tells whoever runs it what to show, what to ask and how long each part takes.
The written summary
After the workshop you get a written summary with the patterns, people’s own words and four to six questions for your next team meeting.
Nothing before the reveal
You see who has locked in and nothing else until the map is revealed, and then you see the same map as everyone else, at the same moment.
Most of the team’s five cards sit in Community and Security, and in their own words people describe a team that keeps its promises and looks after each other. The clearest difference runs between change and continuity, where Tomás and Erik stand furthest apart, and both said in the workshop that they protect something the team needs. For the next team meeting, ask what a decision needs before it is ready, and who in the team should be the one to say so.
Roll it out to several teams without a new contract for each
- Several teams on one invoice, and from five teams a per team price.
- A data processing agreement, with Cessan Lean and Agile Coaching AB as the processor.
- The data is stored on servers in the EU, encrypted, and deleted twelve months after the workshop unless you keep it.
- Most managers run the workshop themselves with the built in guide. If a team has open conflict, or the manager is part of the friction, have someone else run it.
- Viktor can facilitate the workshop for teams of up to 20 people, remote or on site, with a preparation call and a follow-up.
Start the session already knowing what matters
- Invite a client, or two people such as co-founders or a couple
- See their map and their words before you meet
- Follow how their values move between mappings
- Keep session notes only you can see
People share more when they decide what is shared
Nothing before the reveal
Nobody sees a sort before it is locked in and the map is revealed, the manager included. Taking part is each person’s own choice.
Your cards, your call
Any card can be kept out of the team map, and Religion, Faith and Spirituality are never shown to the team unless the person chooses to show them.
No grades
Guesses are shown only as totals, nobody is ranked or scored, and Value Cards is never used to select, rank or rate people.
The data is stored on servers in the EU, encrypted, and Cessan Lean and Agile Coaching AB is the processor for every team and practitioner, with a data processing agreement in the terms. Each person can delete their own mapping, and a team’s data is removed on request.
The written summary can be drafted with the help of an AI, if the organizer switches it on. It then receives the card combinations and the computed patterns with people as codes, never names, email addresses, roles or the company’s name, and what people wrote only if the organizer allows it. It describes patterns and never grades anyone, and without it the summary is written from the counts alone.
Map your own values before you invite the team
Sort the cards, choose your five and put them in your own words, free, and come back to them whenever you like.
The full analysis of your mapping can be unlocked for €9, once, and it then covers every mapping you make.
Teams pay per mapping, practitioners by the month
The full analysis of every personal mapping you make, now and later.
- What your values lean toward and where you stand between opposites
- Who you are likely to clash with, and why
- Comparison over time and a PDF to keep
One mapping and one workshop for a team of up to 12 people.
- Invitations, reminders and a join code
- Guesses, how working together feels and frictions
- The live workshop with the step by step guide
- The written summary for the manager
Map the same team again within a year costs €199.
For coaches, therapists and internal L&D who work with clients.
- 25 client mappings a month
- Pairs, such as co-founders or couples
- History and private notes
- Team mappings bought separately, at €299 each
- Cancel any time
Viktor runs the workshop with up to 20 people, remote or on site.
- A preparation call with the manager
- The full workshop, facilitated
- A follow-up on the agreements
- Travel and VAT are added
Rolling it out to several teams? From five teams there is a per team price and one invoice. Talk to Viktor
Prices are in euro. VAT is added at checkout where it applies, and every purchase comes with an invoice.
Prefer physical cards? The printed deck works with the same exercise. Buy the printed cards
Good to know
How long does it take?
About 25 minutes for each person on their own, and they can stop and come back at any time. Then one workshop of two to three hours depending on the size of the team, which a distributed team can split in two.
Do we need a facilitator?
Most managers run it themselves with the built in guide, which says what to show and what to ask in each part. If the team has open conflict, or you as the manager are part of the friction, have someone else facilitate, and Viktor facilitates teams of up to 20 people.
Is this a personality test?
No. Nobody is put in a box or given a type. You sort cards, and the map shows what the team shares and where it differs.
Is the goal to agree on team values?
No. The goal is to understand what each person brings, where you meet and where you pull in different directions. Shared values often appear along the way, and that is a bonus.
What does the manager see?
Who has locked in, and nothing else until the map is revealed. After that the manager sees the same map as everyone else.
Where is the data stored?
On servers in the EU, encrypted, with Cessan Lean and Agile Coaching AB as the processor. Each person can delete their own mapping, a team’s data is removed on request and otherwise twelve months after the workshop, and a data processing agreement is part of the terms.
Is there an AI involved?
Only for the written summary, which never grades anyone, and only if the organizer switches it on. It receives the card combinations and the patterns with people as codes, never names, email addresses, roles or the company’s name, and what people wrote only if the organizer allows it. Everything else is plain counting that you can check yourself.
Can we pay by invoice?
From five teams, yes. Smaller purchases are paid by card through Stripe, and every purchase comes with an invoice.
Which languages can we use?
English and Swedish today, with more languages on the way. Everyone chooses their own, and the cards, the emails and the summary follow.