Make Teamwork Work with Psychological Safety

Imagine this scenario played out two ways:

The frontline manager has assembled her team to work on a problem. Sales are down after a competitor opens across town. Everybody has been asked to analyze the numbers and share ideas on how to keep current customers loyal, recapture those customers who have gone to the competition and lure in newer customers.

• A. There’s a clear leader. Things look organized. The team is asked to share ideas. Ideas that sound a little crazy are laughed off. Someone takes notes and writes the “legitimate” ideas on the white board. The meeting is quiet, serious, and from the outside looks like everybody is on-task.
• B. The room explodes with ideas – everything from the absurd to ultra boring. It feels a little chaotic. People talk over each other. Ideas – all ideas – are written on the white board. Nothing is dismissed as “too crazy.” The meeting might go on a little too long. Everybody is participating. From the outside, it looks like not a lot is happening.

• 1. “Equality in distribution of conversation turn-taking.” In other words, everybody gets a chance to share ideas. Everybody’s voice matters.
• 2. “High social sensitivity.” This means the team members are good at reading each others’ feelings. They can sense when somebody feels left out or offended.