Your team
conversation guide.

Before you begin.

I will make participation optional, provide equal time for the conversation-only alternative, and respect a decision to decline. I will not ask for private readings or use calendar results, participation or private answers in employment decisions.

• Allow a person to decline or choose the alternative without explaining their beliefs or personal circumstances.
• Give the alternative the same work time and respect as calendar-based participation.
• Let people choose their conversation partners; do not require a direct report to share a reading with a manager.
• Use organizer access for logistics. Do not request private reports, screenshots or agreement text.
• Evaluate the program through optional feedback about the experience, without ranking people or interpreting their calendar results.

1 / During your first two weeks · 10 minutes on your own

Begin with your own experience.

Choose a real part of your working life you would like to understand better. Your calendar reflection can offer a starting point; you decide what fits.

1. For two minutes, read your reflection or choose the conversation-only alternative below. You can skip any prompt.
2. For three minutes, recall one ordinary work situation: a handoff, a decision, a request for help or a change of priority.
3. For three minutes, separate what happened from what you assumed. Keep names and confidential details out of any notes you save.
4. For two minutes, choose one question you would feel comfortable exploring with a colleague. Private reflection is enough for today.

Questions to explore

• What happened that I could describe without guessing another person's intentions?
• What helped me do useful work, and what made it harder?
• What might I understand better by asking rather than assuming?

One work example and one question. You do not need to disclose a personal story or agree with an interpretation.

2 / When you both choose to meet · 10 minutes together

Make room for another perspective.

Choose a colleague and agree on a small, current work situation. Both people choose whether to share a calendar reading. You can also use the conversation-only exercise.

1. For one minute, confirm that both people want this conversation and choose one work topic. Either person may pass or stop.
2. For two minutes, the first person describes what happened and what would help. The other listens without explaining or correcting.
3. For two minutes, switch roles. Give both accounts equal time.
4. For two minutes, each person summarizes what they heard and asks whether they understood it accurately.
5. For three minutes, name anything you understand differently about one another. You can stop there, or choose to explore a practical change.

Questions to explore

• What do you need from me at this point in our work?
• What am I assuming that you would like to clarify?
• What do I see differently about you after hearing your experience?

A clearer understanding of each person's account and one possible change. Different answers are welcome.

3 / Optional · when you both want to try a change · 10 minutes to agree; 10 minutes to review

If useful, try a change together.

Understanding can be enough. If you both want to act on an insight, choose a practical behavior you can influence. A saved note is a shared draft until you both agree on its wording.

1. For three minutes, describe the situation that will trigger your agreement: a handoff, a delayed task, a decision or a request for help.
2. For three minutes, name what each person will do and any support or boundary needed. Keep the commitment small enough to try in current work.
3. For two minutes, read the wording aloud together. Each person can change it or decline.
4. For two minutes, choose a review date and add it to your own calendar. Maya Together does not send a reminder for this exercise.
5. At your review, take two minutes each to share one example of what happened, three minutes to decide what to keep or change, and three minutes to write the next agreement or close it.

Questions to explore

• When this situation happens, what will each of us do?
• What happened when we tried it? It is fine if we did not have a chance to try.
• Should we keep it, change it or stop? What makes that useful now?

A specific, jointly chosen practice and a review date. Your review can end with no change, a revised agreement or a decision to stop.

4 / Before the program's 90-day end date · 10 minutes together or on your own

Choose what to carry forward.

Return to an actual experience from the program. Keep what was useful, name what did not help and choose what deserves your attention next.

1. For three minutes, recall one conversation or work example. You can complete this privately.
2. For three minutes, consider what you understand differently about yourself or someone else. There is no required insight or positive outcome to report.
3. For two minutes, decide whether any next conversation would be useful. Ask the other person before continuing a shared practice.
4. For two minutes, review your sharing choices and keep only the notes you both want to retain. Treat downloaded shared information with care.

Questions to explore

• What did I learn by listening to another account of the same situation?
• What do I recognize about myself or this relationship that I had not noticed before?
• What would I choose to continue, and what would I leave here?

A considered next step. New readings and agreement edits stop at the program end date; existing shared readings remain available for 30 more days while both people continue to consent.

An optional working draft to shape together.

When ___ happens, I will ___ and you will ___. We will try this until ___ and review what happened on ___.

A fictional example two colleagues could choose

For the next two weeks, we will send a short decision summary before our handoff: the decision needed, the deadline and who owns the next step. We will review one real example together next Friday.

Either participant can edit the shared note. Read and confirm the wording together; saving it does not record the other person's approval.

Begin with a work conversation.

Use this exercise without entering birth information or creating a calendar profile. Choose a colleague who wants to take part, or use the questions privately.

1. For one minute, choose a current handoff, decision or communication challenge. Agree that either person may skip a question or end the conversation.
2. For two minutes each, describe what happened, what you need and one thing you may be assuming. Listen before responding.
3. For two minutes, each person summarizes what they heard and checks whether they understood correctly.
4. For three minutes, name what you understand differently. If you both want to try a practical change, choose it together. Keep any notes wherever you both choose.

• What would make our next handoff or decision clearer?
• How would you prefer me to ask for help or flag a delay?
• What do we understand differently, and is there anything we want to change?

You may choose this alternative, approach the calendar as cultural learning or personal reflection, or decline. Your beliefs and interpretation remain your own.

For the person holding the conversation.

We are using an original workplace exercise to listen to each other's experience. You choose what to share, may disagree with any prompt, and can pass or stop at any point.

• Explain what is visible in the application before asking people to join or share.
• Offer the conversation-only alternative and the option to decline with equal respect.
• Keep the situation concrete and reasonably small. Invite examples without confidential business or personal details.
• Give each person equal time. A manager should listen to the other person's account before responding.
• Treat day-name themes as optional starting points. Let each person describe themselves; avoid assigning traits, roles or compatibility.
• Allow a short pause or a later conversation when there is disagreement. Do not require agreement, disclosure or forgiveness.
• End by asking what each person now understands differently. A practical agreement is optional; insight does not need to become an assignment.

These exercises are for everyday work conversations. Use your organization's appropriate support channels for grievances, harassment, discrimination or serious conflict. Do not ask a colleague to resolve those matters through this exercise.

The Chol Q’ij is a living sacred Maya tradition. This guide is original contemporary workplace writing; it does not teach ceremony or claim a traditional pair-reading method.