In my previous blog post, Is “Just to be nice” the answer? I argued that creating inclusive, collaborative and innovative teams required psychological safety, i.e. a place where team members felt safe to speak up without fear of ridicule, embarrassment or rejection.
If you want the most effective team when dealing with complexity or uncertainty, then better outcomes are usually found when everyone has a say, and their input is welcomed, not diminished.
However, as desirable as this sounds, things go wrong. We all remember a situation where “that person” in a meeting or a team discussion shuts others down or doesn’t even give them space to contribute. Often this isn’t intentional and can be a symptom of their desire to prove themselves: they’re effectively saying, “listen to me, I’m important”. They might support the idea of inclusiveness and a psychologically safe environment, but only after everyone’s acknowledged how important they are!
I think we can all remember times when we’ve been a perpetrator of this in our careers, often after starting a new role. Some people can maintain inclusive listening wherever they find themselves; for some, it can take a period of adjustment after starting a new position or joining a new team. Sadly, some others are completely unaware of their impact, and it’s become an unshakeable habit.
Taking Action
Step 1: Acknowledge the team benefits and effectiveness of inclusiveness and psychological safety. Resolve that something must change.
Step 2: Become aware of your behaviour in each of your ‘teams’ – you may act entirely differently with your leadership peers than with the team you manage. Ask yourself, did everyone in this discussion have a near equal share of speaking time – myself included?
Step 3: Choose to take the first step in the right direction. Perhaps in your weekly team meeting, you will consciously bring everyone into the discussion and thank them for their contributions. Or maybe you will ask permission to speak up in situations where you’re not being heard.
In summary, know the direction of travel and practice changes of behaviour until they become habits.
And most of all, don’t be “that person”.