Speak Up

Speak Up - Psychologically Safe Environment

How many times people provide feedback whether it is good or not so good in meetings? When we question on any aspect of discussion in meetings and solicit feedback from the attendees, 95% to 98% of them generally remain silent. 100% of the time we consider silence as an alignment.

In reality silence in meetings is not alignment. It means that people are not interested to share either the good or not so good feedback. The reasons why participants do not want to share their feedback could be many. Some of the reasons could be as follows:

1. Participants are attending the meeting because there was a meeting invite sent to them from leadership team. Only their presence or attendance is important and nothing else. The point of discussion is either not relevant to them or it is not going to add any value to them intellectually, professionally or in any other manner.
2. Participants may not feel safe to speak up, because in the past their opinions were never acknowledged or bluntly rejected or they faced some kind of reprimand on what they have spoken.
3. The leadership has communicated both verbal and non-verbal mixed feelings which enhanced ambiguity and clarity was compromised.
4. When opinions or comments were shared, the speaker changed to a more aggressive tone in communicating the features of the conversation or point of discussion.
5. There could be many cultural influences and differences. In some cultures they don't speak till the end and may just nod a head with a smile for agreement or silently bow and leave the premises with a gentle smile.
6. During a meeting, when few of the participants speak loudly, others might feel their points are not invalid because they can't speak louder.
7. Some could be outspoken and would be able to convey. Seeing these outspoken people there could be some introverts or not so outspoken who get cornered and would prefer remaining silent.

Reasons could be many, but how to solve these? Some of the questions that one can ask are:

1. Am I spending my time on unproductive, non-value added tasks, or tasks that don't matter whether they are completed or not?
2. Why I wanted to speak up? Whatever I am going to speak - do I have a complete clarity on it? If not can I ask for complete clarity so that I can think and speak if not readily during the meeting, may be at a later stage where I need to think alone or discuss with others and get back?
3. Are my feelings based upon culture or past experiences (especially those of bad ones) still valid in the current situation? If so, to what extent and how can I change or stop getting influenced by them?
4. Is the outcome of the meeting clearly conveyed before hand and what is anticipated from the meeting and in what form from each participant?

The leaders or facilitators of a "meeting or any communication" should be able to ask the above questions and provide clarity on all of them and create a safe environment in obtaining a feedback and participants need not expect any kind of retaliation either now or at any time in the future. Leadership should be able acknowledge all types of feedback even the most challenging ones and should be able to convey the importance of negative and neutral feedback and how much time they require to address them.

In total be open to every comment, and be non-judgmental, unbiased and unprejudiced in your communication. Convey passion, assertiveness and the need for collaboration in your verbal and non-verbal communication and emphasize on the purpose of the meeting and what is in it for every participant.

Next time when you are in a meeting and you ask for feedback and you get silence in response. Be careful! No feedback does not mean everything is good and all are aligned. It means they don't want to share their feedback - whether it is positive, neutral or negative. It is also an indication as an undercurrent message that they don't feel it safe to speak or share their opinions.

I would like to end with this quote:

Silence does not mean alignment. It is also an indication they don't want to share either the good or not so good feedback. - Ravi Kiran Muddha