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- When a Team Member Speaks Up — and It Doesn't Go Well | Harvard Business Review (2024)
When a Team Member Speaks Up — and It Doesn't Go Well | Harvard Business Review (2024)
Speaking up in organisations is critical for ethical behaviour, innovation, inclusion, and performance. This article explores how failed attempts at speaking up can lead to long-term silence. It offers strategies for leaders and team members to learn from these experiences, framing them as intelligent failures that can improve team dynamics and organisational culture.
Tanguy Dulac
November 24, 2024
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
Harvard Business Review | When a Team Member Speaks Up — and It Doesn't Go Well | Speaking up in organisations is critical for ethical behaviour, innovation, inclusion, and performance. This article explores how failed attempts at speaking up can lead to long-term silence. It offers strategies for leaders and team members to learn from these experiences, framing them as intelligent failures that can improve team dynamics and organisational culture.
📊 DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that leaders tend to believe they are better listeners than they are?
✨ OVERVIEW
This article explores the importance of speaking up in organisations and the lasting consequences of failed attempts. Negative experiences can silence individuals and erode team habits of feedback and risk-taking. The authors propose framing such situations as "intelligent failures," encouraging teams to learn from these interactions. They offer practical strategies to help leaders and team members speak up, listen effectively, and foster a culture of openness and learning.
🧩 CONTEXT
Open communication is essential for innovation, ethics, inclusion, and performance in today's complex business environment. However, many organisations need help to create an environment where team members feel safe voicing their ideas and concerns. Failure to make speaking-up attempts can lead to a culture of silence, stifling creativity and growth. This article addresses the need for strategies that encourage speaking up and help recover and learn from unsuccessful interactions.
🔍 WHY IT MATTERS
Addressing failed attempts to speak up is vital for several reasons:
↳ Fostering innovation and ethics—Open communication drives ethical behaviour, creativity, and performance. Ignoring speaking-up failures risks creating a culture of silence.
↳ Preventing long-term silence—Negative experiences can discourage individuals from speaking up in the future, leading to missed opportunities for organisational growth.
↳ Improving team dynamics—Learning from failures enhances trust, communication, and psychological safety.
↳ Enhancing organisational learning—Framing failures as "intelligent" creates opportunities for growth and better decision-making.
💡 KEY INSIGHTS
↳ Shared responsibility—Both the speaker and the listener play critical roles in the success of speaking-up interactions. Success isn’t solely the responsibility of the person voicing concerns.
↳ Challenges in learning—Learning from failures is often hindered by obliviousness, counterproductive emotions (e.g., embarrassment), or an excessive focus on short-term tasks.
↳ Impact of negative experiences—A single negative interaction can discourage individuals from raising concerns, potentially affecting their career trajectory.
↳ Value of intelligent failures—Reframing failures as learning opportunities can strengthen communication and team cohesion.
↳ Importance of learning conversations—Two-thirds of employees want more focus on teaching conversations, compared to only 22% who prioritise task-focused discussions.
🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS
↳ Highlight learning intentions—Start meetings by emphasising learning and encouraging reflection on unclear or challenging points.
↳ Build meta-awareness—Train teams to notice and address speaking-up failures in real time, avoiding automatic reactions.
↳ Use process tools—Introduce methods like assigning a team member to monitor for unvoiced ideas during meetings and facilitate reflection breaks.
↳ Model vulnerability—Share your speaking-up challenges to demonstrate the value of learning from failures.
↳ Promote a culture of intelligent failure—Encourage open, uncomfortable discussions as signs of team health, valuing diverse perspectives over conformity.
🔗 CONCLUSION
Effectively addressing speaking-up challenges requires a shift in mindset from both leaders and teams. By recognising shared responsibility, learning from failures, and fostering a culture of open communication, organisations can unlock innovation, ethical behaviour, and improved performance. As business environments grow increasingly complex, the ability to learn from unsuccessful interactions will be a cornerstone of long-term success.