How to Encourage Participation in New Initiatives

Psychological Safety is the secret to high-performing teams Ever wondered why some teams seem to effortlessly excel, while others constantly struggle? The answer might surprise you: it all comes down to psychological safety. Psychological safety is the magic ingredient that unlocks a team's true potential. When team members feel safe to speak up, challenge ideas, and take calculated risks, innovation thrives. What does it look like in action? Imagine a team where: - Ideas are openly shared, even if they're half-baked. - Honest mistakes are seen as learning opportunities, not reasons for blame. - Healthy debate is encouraged, leading to better solutions. In Google's Project Aristotle, we also found that Psychological Safety was a key factor in teams that were rated the most effective: https://lnkd.in/gmAMp_JS This great cheat sheet by Ronnie H. unveils two powerful tools: 1. Amy Edmondson's Matrix: This simple framework shows how the sweet spot of high performance lies at the intersection of psychological safety and clear standards. 2. 9 Actionable Tips for Leaders: These are battle-tested strategies used to cultivate psychological safety in teams. Here are some of these tips, with my personal insights: 1. Build Trust: Be transparent, keep promises, and follow through on commitments. My Tip: Share your own vulnerabilities and struggles. It shows you're human and encourages others to do the same. 2. Don't Blame: Focus on solutions, not fault. My Tip: Use "we" language to create a sense of shared responsibility. 3. Listen Actively: Pay attention not just to words, but also body language and emotions. My Tip: Ask clarifying questions and paraphrase to ensure understanding. 4. Normalize Failure: Mistakes are inevitable; view them as stepping stones to growth. My Tip: Celebrate learning moments and share stories of overcoming challenges. 5. Give Everyone a Voice: Encourage participation from all team members, not just the loudest voices. My Tip: Utilize anonymous surveys or suggestion boxes to gather ideas from introverts. Psychological safety is a necessity. Insist on it and watch your team transform. Download the cheat sheet and start building a safe space for your team to thrive! P.S. Repost to spread the word and make work a better place for everyone. ♻️ Follow Ronnie H. Kinsey, MBA, for more leadership insights like this. #motivation #productivity #leadership

By day, I was leading product, then marketing and comms teams in Silicon Valley tech and by night, I did something most people wouldn't (and should!)... Improv and stand-up comedy with a stint at Second City for sketch. Yes, it taught me so many things about writing, story and creativity. More than that...it transformed how I think about story and innovation - individually and collectively as a team or culture. Yes, both will make you funnier. That's NOT even The Holy Grail (which is a classic, amiright?!) Ever curious, I thought, "why can't teams and cultures be like this?" They can. Here's the thing... Innovation and storytelling in teams happen when trust, connection and courage exist. Those first 2 help with courage. If your teams aren't innovating and telling bigger brilliant stories...it's not because they don't have them. It's that humans NEED a net of trust and connection to sustain courage. The biggest innovations, stories, ideas happen when courage fills the air... Leaders, entrepreneurs, any one really....HACK YOUR INNOVATION #1 focus on increasing trust (positive laughter w/o judgment builds connection, trust). When we laugh together, we sew deeper emotional bonds. #2 build team goals and a team net to increase output (stand-up is great and even then you can build with your audience, ex: crowd work, you are creating WITH your audience). THINK improv, it's all YES AND with teams. Two big things to work on: "I got your back." Make your partner look amazing! That means experimentation and supporting new ideas. Relax, you don't have to marry them. Just date them respectfully - you don't have to call them in the morning! #3 Welcome experimentation, humor and reframe what "fail" means - have open convos with teams. 1 and 2 help build a NET. It doesn't mean no bad ideas. It means Bad ideas are welcome as part of a process to get to GREAT ideas. You gotta kiss some ideas frogs to get to those princess ideas (yeah, I changed the metaphor!). WORK WITH ME I help create braver leaders, teams and cultures so people and innovation thrive. From inspirational and humorous talks, keynotes to facilitated learning programs, let's increase brave innovation capacity WHILE making people happier, healthier too. My book, "Stop Boring Me!" is on Amazon and it's all about transformation and innovation with laughter and improvisation. Humor is the ultimate algorithm(SM). Kathy-ism. YOUR TURN How do you channel your laughter into bravery? #keynotespeaker #organizationaldevelopment #innovation #highperformingteams #storytelling #laughter

Last week I mentioned implementing programs like "Food for Thought" to encourage brainstorming and outside-the-box thinking, as it relates to creating a culture of communication and feedback. Before the pandemic, I used to bring in breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack and call the meeting Food for Thought where I would get feedback from the team on what is going well and what are the opportunities for improvement. Here are some ideas to incorporate this in a #hybridworkforce: ✅ Virtual Coffee Chats: Schedule virtual coffee sessions where team members can gather online and have casual conversations. This informal setting encourages open discussions and allows for sharing ideas and feedback. ✅ Collaborative Document Sharing/ Online Idea Forums: Utilize collaborative document-sharing tools such as Google Docs or Microsoft Teams to encourage real-time collaboration. Team members can contribute their ideas, provide feedback, and collectively work on projects or problem-solving tasks. ✅ Virtual Brainstorming Sessions: Conduct virtual brainstorming sessions using video conferencing tools. Facilitate interactive discussions where team members can share their ideas and engage in creative problem-solving exercises. ✅ Surveys and Polls: Use online survey tools to gather feedback from team members on specific topics or projects. Surveys can be anonymous to ensure open and honest responses, and the results can be shared and discussed during team meetings. ✅ Virtual Team Building Activities: Organize virtual team-building activities that encourage collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving. These activities can include virtual escape rooms, online trivia games, or team challenges that promote communication and thinking outside the box. Remember, the key is to provide opportunities for active participation and engagement, regardless of the physical location of team members. By embracing technology and fostering a culture of open communication, you can create a collaborative environment conducive to generating new ideas and seeking feedback. Which idea do you like the most? #hybridsales #communication #culture #hybridwork

Do I have all the best ideas?  Not even close! While many would like to think that all the best ideas only come from the top, that’s simply not true. Building a diverse team that is empowered to take ownership in driving innovation and improving IT efficiencies can drive an incredible amount of change at a much higher rate than a small group of leaders. I’ve the opportunity to lead many teams over my career and the one thing I realized earlier on and still holds true to this day is to allow teams to feel empowered. Give the team room to grow, come up with ideas on their own, and learn from failure. When employees feel trusted to make decisions and experiment, innovation explodes!  I see it all the time - a fresh perspective from a team member can totally change the game. Then add on building a diverse team that brings in different perspectives from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and you get innovation and change on steroids! Here's how I try to foster that ownership culture: 🎯Clear goals, not micromanagement: 🎯 The leadership team sets the vision, but let my team figure out the "how." This gives them the freedom to be creative and find the best solutions. Celebrate failures (as steppingstones!): 💪 We ALL mess up sometimes. The key is to learn from it and move on. A "fail fast, learn faster" mentality encourages taking risks and pushing boundaries. 🌟Recognition that rocks! 🌟 When someone goes above and beyond, I make sure to shout it from the rooftops. Put it in the whole IT channel on teams, call it out during a team lunch, and share with all the IT leaders. Public recognition is a powerful motivator! What are your tips for empowering your team and fostering innovation? #leadership #innovation #employeeownership #itculture #thoughtleadership

I found this while on an afternoon stroll through Esalen. It beautifully summarizes my key learnings from this past week. Innovation doesn't happen during planned meetings or zoom calls. It happens through collisions of people who care about similar problems, and who have the freedom to ideate together. Our job as leaders is to create a culture where creativity thrives and is celebrated. Here are a few ways we can all work towards creating more innovative cultures: 1) Share your mission. Be loud. Be clear. Be consistent. In order for our team members to innovate, you need to give them something to care about first. Employees at mission driven companies report higher levels of engagement, higher retention and higher levels of innovation than companies who don't have a clear purpose or mission. 2) Focus on outcomes not outputs. Employees who have greater freedom on how they get their work done tend to report better overall outcomes and higher profits than companies with more rigid frameworks. Align on overall targets and objectives and let your team figure out their own ways of achieving them - you may be surprised at how good the results are. 3) Acknowledge and celebrate failures as learning moments. One of the best leaders I've worked for held space in each weekly team meeting for "F*ckups of the week" - a practice I have since emulated within my own teams. In order for creativity to flow, employees need to know that it's safe to make mistakes. A culture where failures are celebrated as learnings is one where creativity can thrive. 4) Create room for collisions. If you haven't been living under a rock, then you know the importance of hiring diverse talent and have done so. Groovy. The next part of the equation is amplifying the power of your diverse workforce by creating opportunities for these employees to engage with each other. I'm not talking about switching to being in the office 5 days a week. While that might yield positive results, it might also do so at the cost of employee wellness (this is not a ding on RTO - it's right for some companies, just not all). Instead, try creating quarterly employee summits where you openly discuss current business challenges and welcome all voices and ideas to be shared. If you have other thoughts or ideas on cultivating innovation, I'd love to hear them. #innovationculture #leadershipcoaching #leadershipdevelopment #esaleninstitute #humanpotential