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Polariswhere hard conversations happen.

Polaris is a facilitator-led, structured conversation that surfaces what a team has been avoiding, and turns it into a commitment the team owns, and real transformation.

  • 1 facilitator
  • 6 to 12 people
  • 3 to 4 hours
  • 36 cards
  • Fully virtual
Get a free demo See how a session runs

Click any card, or turn the ring, to read another.

Every team has a conversation
it has been avoiding.

Capable people, a clear strategy, and still the same issues return every quarter. If any of these sound familiar, the conversation your team needs has not happened yet.

Polaris is how that conversation finally happens. Play one round

Play one round, the way your team will.

Every Polaris card runs the same way. Step through Trust card 19, the card that shows whether a team is ready to name what it has been working around.

The round plays on its own until you pick a step.

Six phases, 36 cards, one Polaris session.

Trust deck · Team Effectiveness Suite

  1. Heat: Low

    The team settles in and speaks freely. Sets shared language and each person’s defaults.

    Cards 1 to 6

    1. 01ExampleA Person Who Trusted YouReflectionCard 1, Reflection, A Person Who Trusted You
    2. 02QuestionCard 2, Question
    3. 03ReflectionCard 3, Reflection
    4. 04QuestionCard 4, Question
    5. 05ScenarioCard 5, Scenario
    6. 06ReflectionCard 6, Reflection

  2. Heat: Rising

    An honest look at how the team works today. Card 7 is the Audit; a Tax card names what the patterns cost.

    Cards 7 to 12

    1. 07ExampleThe Trust AuditAssessmentCard 7, Assessment, The Trust Audit
    2. 08ExerciseCard 8, Exercise
    3. 09ReflectionCard 9, Reflection
    4. 10QuestionCard 10, Question
    5. 11QuestionCard 11, Question
    6. 12ExerciseCard 12, Exercise

    Hover or tap a labeled card to see what happens there.

  3. Heat: Building

    People say what they have been holding back. The most senior person speaks last.

    Cards 13 to 18

    1. 13ExampleWhat I Need From This TeamReflectionCard 13, Reflection, What I Need From This Team
    2. 14ReflectionCard 14, Reflection
    3. 15QuestionCard 15, Question
    4. 16ReflectionCard 16, Reflection
    5. 17ReflectionCard 17, Reflection
    6. 18ReflectionCard 18, Reflection

  4. Heat: Peak

    The team names the thing it has been avoiding. This is the peak of the session.

    Cards 19 to 24

    1. 19ExampleThe Person You Work AroundTensionCard 19, Tension, The Person You Work Around
    2. 20QuestionCard 20, Question
    3. 21QuestionCard 21, Question
    4. 22TensionCard 22, Tension
    5. 23ScenarioCard 23, Scenario
    6. 24TensionCard 24, Tension

  5. Heat: Easing

    What was said becomes shared agreement. Card 29 sets the Signal.

    Cards 25 to 30

    1. 25AlignmentCard 25, Alignment
    2. 26DecisionCard 26, Decision
    3. 27ExerciseCard 27, Exercise
    4. 28AlignmentCard 28, Alignment
    5. 29ExampleThe SignalDecisionCard 29, Decision, The Signal
    6. 30AlignmentCard 30, Alignment

    Hover or tap a labeled card to see what happens there.

  6. Heat: Settling

    Agreement becomes a plan. Card 34 affirms the Commitment, 35 books the check-in, 36 closes.

    Cards 31 to 36

    1. 31CommitmentCard 31, Commitment
    2. 32CommitmentCard 32, Commitment
    3. 33CommitmentCard 33, Commitment
    4. 34ExampleThe Trust CommitmentExerciseCard 34, Exercise, The Trust Commitment
    5. 35DecisionCard 35, Decision
    6. 36ReflectionCard 36, Reflection

    Hover or tap a labeled card to see what happens there.

Scroll, or click any phase to jump to it. See the key cards in each deck →

Ten Polaris suites, one method.

Each suite brings the same six-phase, 36-card method to a different moment in a team’s life, with six decks of its own. Open any suite to see its decks.

All ten suites

1 to 5 of 10

  • Live suite · Flagship

    Team Effectiveness

    For intact teams that want to work better together, with one deck for each dimension of team effectiveness.

    1. Trust
    2. Alignment
    3. Communication
    4. Decision Making
    5. Leadership
    6. Performance
    Find your deck →

  • Live suite

    Team Formation

    For the moment a team is stood up: a new team, a restructure, a merger, or a new leader arriving.

    1. Chartering
    2. Onboarding
    3. Integration
    4. Arrival
    5. TrustAlso in Team Effectiveness
    6. AlignmentAlso in Team Effectiveness

  • Live suite

    Team Growth

    For teams under growth or delivery pressure, from fast scaling to a milestone weeks away.

    1. Scale
    2. Delivery
    3. Series
    4. Expansion
    5. PerformanceAlso in Team Effectiveness
    6. AlignmentAlso in Team Effectiveness

  • Live suite

    Team Repair

    For teams recovering from conflict, crisis or rupture, or seeing one coming.

    1. Conflict
    2. Prevention
    3. Repair
    4. Crisis
    5. Retrospective
    6. TrustAlso in Team Effectiveness

  • Live suite

    Change Management

    For teams navigating a reorganization, a merger, a strategic pivot or a new direction.

    1. Sensemaking
    2. Resistance
    3. Letting Go
    4. New Ways
    5. Realignment
    6. Sustaining

  • Live suite

    Cultural Transformation

    For turning stated values into behavior people can see on a Monday morning.

    1. Values
    2. Behavior
    3. Safety
    4. Belonging
    5. Accountability
    6. Trust Renewal

  • Live suite

    Leadership Teams

    For the group at the top, learning to lead as one team rather than as individuals.

    1. Executive Alignment
    2. Shared Vision
    3. Executive Decisions
    4. Leading Together
    5. ConflictAlso in Team Repair
    6. SuccessionAlso in Succession Planning

  • Live suite

    Leadership Pipeline

    For building leadership capability across every tier, from emerging leaders to the C-suite.

    1. Emerging
    2. Middle Manager
    3. Senior Leader
    4. Executive
    5. Manager ShiftAlso in First-Time Managers
    6. LeadershipAlso in Team Effectiveness

  • Live suite

    First-Time Managers

    For a cohort making the shift into managing people, together.

    1. Manager Shift
    2. Managing People
    3. Managing Performance
    4. Delegation
    5. Team Coaching
    6. Managing Up

  • Live suite

    Succession Planning

    For boards and executives designing continuity for critical roles.

    1. Succession
    2. Handover
    3. Readiness
    4. Board Succession
    5. Emergency
    6. LeadershipAlso in Team Effectiveness

Explore all ten suites, and the moments they are built for

Inside a Polaris session,
wherever your team works.

Fully online, run by an Edstellar accredited facilitator. Switch between the two views below.

  • Same card, same moment
  • A private workspace for each person
  • One console for the facilitator

Private
by design

  • Answers stay yours
  • No one sees another person’s scores
  • Reports stay anonymous
  • No one is named in their absence

The participant view: the card on screen and a private workspace where each person fills in their own trust map. Responses are submitted privately; the facilitator may show them to the group anonymously.

What every team walks away with.

Things the team builds itself, before anyone logs off. Four reports follow within seven days.

Polaris Team Effectiveness Suite · Trust deck

The Trust Commitment

Six points about how we will build and hold trust in this team

  1. 01We will name the person being worked around within the week, not manage around them in silence.Measurable outcomeRaised within five working days
  2. 02We will bring disagreements to the room, not to side channels afterward.Measurable outcomeFewer decisions reopened after meetings
  3. 03We will say when we do not have capacity, rather than agreeing and under-delivering.Measurable outcomeCommitments met as agreed

+ 3 more points, each with a measurable outcome

Signed by every member8 of 8 affirmed

Four reports, four hands. Each reader sees only what is theirs.

A card face up is something that reader sees. A card face down stays private.

  • Participant

    Each person in the session

    • AnswersTheir own answers only
    • AuditOwn scores next to the team average
    • QuotesTheir own words
    • Next stepsTheir own next steps
    • CommitmentWith their own affirmation

    Never sees: retention signals

  • Leadership

    The sponsor

    • AuditTeam average only
    • QuotesAnonymized by role
    • RetentionA count only, no names
    • Next stepsDecisions for the sponsor
    • CommitmentThe team’s Commitment

    Never sees: other people’s answers

  • HR / L&OD

    HR and L&D leaders

    • AuditAverage for each dimension
    • QuotesAnonymized by role
    • RetentionA count only, no names
    • Next stepsLearning and OD interventions
    • CommitmentThe team’s Commitment

    Never sees: other people’s answers

  • Facilitator

    Accredited facilitator only

    • AnswersAll answers, attributed
    • AuditEvery individual score
    • QuotesAttributed
    • RetentionIdentity protected
    • Next stepsWith the reasoning
    • CommitmentWith practice notes

    Sees the full session record

Generated by AI, edited and signed off by the facilitator, and released to each reader within 7 days.

See how Polaris reports and confidentiality work

Polaris stands on four foundations.

Foundation 1 of 4

Adult learning

“Nothing is lectured. Everything is drawn out of the room.”

What it means
Adults change when they reach a conclusion themselves, from their own experience. Being told what to do rarely changes what they do.
In a Polaris session
There is no presentation and there are no slides. The facilitator asks, the team answers, and every insight in the room comes from the team’s own work, in its own words. That is why the Commitment it writes at the end is one it believes.
Foundation 2 of 4

Bloom’s taxonomy

“The cards climb from recall to reflection to judgment.”

What it means
A well-established model of how thinking deepens: from remembering what happened, to understanding what it means, to judging and deciding what to do.
In a Polaris session
The 36 cards follow that climb. Early cards ask what happened. Middle cards ask what it means and what each person’s part is. Only the last phases ask the team to judge and commit, so every decision rests on something the team has already named.
Foundation 3 of 4

Psychological safety

“It opens gently and earns its way to the difficult conversations.”

What it means
The shared belief that it is safe to take an interpersonal risk here: to admit a mistake, to disagree, or to say the uncomfortable thing.
In a Polaris session
Polaris builds it step by step. Phase I starts with low-risk reflection, everyone writes before anyone speaks, and the senior person answers last. The hardest questions wait until Phase IV, once the room has earned them.
Foundation 4 of 4

Confidentiality

“What is personal stays in the facilitator’s hands.”

What it means
People speak honestly only when they know exactly where their words will go.
In a Polaris session
Individual answers go only to the facilitator. Reports are team-level and anonymized by role, no one is named in their absence, and anything held under HELD never leaves the facilitator without consent.

Nothing here is by chance. All of it is by design.

Pick your situation, get your Team Effectiveness deck.

Start with

The Trust deck

Do they believe each other?

Get a free demo with the Trust deck Explore the deck

How each deck fits this situation

  • TrustBest fit
  • AlignmentWith adaptation
  • CommunicationWith adaptation
  • Decision MakingLess suited
  • LeadershipLess suited
  • PerformanceLess suited

The facilitator confirms the deck with the sponsor before the session.

Polaris FAQs.

Answers to the questions sponsors and HR leaders ask most before commissioning a Polaris session.

What is Polaris?

Polaris by Edstellar is a facilitator-led, card-based team intervention. In one virtual session of 3 to 4 hours, an Edstellar accredited facilitator takes an intact team through 36 cards across six phases, and the team closes with a written Commitment that every member affirms.

Why does Polaris use cards?

Each card is a simple prompt that keeps one question in the room. Everyone writes before they speak, so answers are more honest and considered, and once a card is turned everyone answers it, including the most senior person. There are no slides or models: the team is the expert on itself, and the facilitator holds the room.

Which teams is Polaris for?

Polaris is for intact teams of 6 to 12 people who work together and have been together long enough for patterns to form, usually 90 days or more. Leadership teams are the most common, and the senior person who heads the team takes part in the session as a member.

How do we choose a Polaris deck?

The Team Effectiveness Suite has six decks: Trust, Alignment, Communication, Decision Making, Leadership and Performance. The facilitator recommends one in the sponsor briefing, based on the situation the team is facing. The deck finder on this page shows the usual fit.

Is a Polaris session confidential?

Yes. Only the participant and the facilitator see that person’s individual answers and scores. Each participant sees their own scores next to the team average, never anyone else’s. Leadership and HR / L&OD reports are team-level, with quotes anonymized by role, and people mentioned in their absence are never named. The one exception is a risk of serious harm, which the facilitator explains before the session.

Which reports does a Polaris session produce?

Four reports from the same session data: a Leadership report for the sponsor, an HR / L&OD report with recommended interventions, a personal report for each participant, and a full Facilitator report that stays with the facilitator.

How are Polaris reports produced?

Each report is generated by AI from the session data, then edited and signed off by the accredited facilitator. No report is released until it has been signed off, and reports reach their readers within seven days of the session.

Is Polaris delivered in person?

Polaris runs fully virtually. The cards are shared on screen, and the team works through the same write-then-speak rhythm in a single facilitated session of 3 to 4 hours.

What happens after a Polaris session?

Every team leaves with an honest reading of where it stands, a Commitment, a Signal it can use at work, and a 30-day check-in booked before the session closes. The facilitator runs the check-in, where the team tests its Commitment against a month of practice. Further check-ins at 60 and 90 days are optional.

Who runs Polaris sessions?

Edstellar accredited Polaris facilitators run every session. Any accredited facilitator can run any suite, any deck and custom sessions.

Bring your leadership team to the table with Polaris.

Tell us where your team is today and the conversation it keeps avoiding. We reply within two business days with a scoped response.

  1. 1Share your team’s situationWho is in the team and what it keeps avoiding.
  2. 2Meet an Edstellar accredited facilitatorThey suggest the deck that fits and answer your questions.
  3. 3See Polaris runA free demo of a session, fully online.

Book a Polaris consultation

Tell us where your team is today. Fields marked optional can be left blank.

We reply within two business days with a scoped response, no automated sales sequence.