How safe does your team feel to speak their minds?
The Challenge
Rank your team members on a scale from "most likely to speak out in meetings" to "least likely to speak out." Review your list and see if any patterns emerge. Do you have one team member who dominates every discussion? Do all team members participate equally? If there are several levels of hierarchy in your team, do members at all levels participate freely? Does gender or ethnic background seem to impact participation?
Why do this?
Psychological safety creates space for all team members to speak up freely and share their ideas without hesitation. Analyzing your team's pattern of participation will help you assess how safe your team members feel.
It is your responsibility as a leader to encourage candid conversation and promote respect among team members. Be curious about everyone's perspective and acknowledge those who speak up. Creating psychological safety for your team will maximize the benefits of the diverse knowledge, skills, experience, and backgrounds of your team members.
What’s next?
At the next meeting, invite the two team members you identified as most quiet to give their opinion on the topic at hand (provided that it's reasonable they'd have an opinion on it, of course!).
