Effective Team Dialogue - are you prepared to rock the boat?

Like any relationship, be it business or personal, effective dialogue lies at the heart of success, and importantly, where that dialogue involves different opinions and perspectives. Let’s face it, team meetings would be pretty pointless affairs, if everyone agreed all of the time, or if only one voice was heard. So what can you do to encourage your team to have more productive dialogue?

Are you prepared to rock the boat?

In reality, the reasons why different views aren’t always openly shared isn’t because they don’t exist, it’s because individuals often feel it’s too risky to ‘rock the boat’ in group dialogue. This is despite the fact that many of us know that a high performing team is always ready and willing to engage in healthy conflict, knowing full well that their disruptive dialogue can inspire innovation, enabling the team to find new ways of tackling challenges and ultimately, enable business growth.

Do you address what lies beneath?

What can, on the surface, appear to be a team with a positive atmosphere, can often be one where authenticity, openness and candour are in short supply. People hold back, things are left unspoken and a holding pattern emerges of selective openness and groupthink which can give the appearance of harmony and consensus. This can often be the ‘state’ of teams we work with – team members get stuck in a predictable pattern of dialogue, and if the most senior person in the room is not able to address and challenge it - as they are often part of the dynamic - a team can find it difficult to know how to move itself on. It’s a bit like a sail boat being trapped in the doldrums, going nowhere, which can lead to eventual stagnation.

Are you prepared to have the uncomfortable conversation?

To move out of the doldrums, a team needs to practice moving into what is known as the ‘zone of uncomfortable debate’. This is where the truth is told, challenges are made, constructive feedback is given and received in equal measure, and individuals disclose their vulnerability. Now if that heady mix leaves you feeling a bit seasick, then you probably haven’t got the climate in place that enables it to occur without losing men and women overboard.

Do you create a climate of psychological safety?

Teams need a climate of trust in order for all these productive ingredients to occur. Trust exists in many forms, but in this context we are talking about psychological safety, and it only occurs if someone initially takes a risk, and grasps the nettle, however uncomfortable it may at first appear. If this doesn’t happen, then like a boat on still water, you’re just not going to move to where you want to get to. Worse still, you’re likely to regress, as the very elements that we might fear when wanting to speak out, such as rejection and criticism, are replaced by a climate of distrust. Ironic really, as this is probably what you wanted to avoid in the first place.

In order to create the positive and open environment that we seek, we need to be prepared to step outside of our individual and collective comfort zones. If you want to change, to improve, and to grow personally and as a team, you know what you need to do. Simple really, and we fully understand that it’s not that easy. But there is a straightforward way to start the process for your team.

Go on and ask yourself the obvious question.

“What is the one thing that your team needs to talk about that you avoid talking about?”

 As we work with teams, big and small, galvanising them to become more effective, this is a powerful question we often ask them in order to begin the process of getting to the heart of what is holding them back. It's often greeted with silence accompanied with lots of knowing looks. And then some brave soul takes a deep breath and takes the plunge.

We’d like to help you rock the boat in your team, by working with you to identify what’s helping you, and what’s hindering you from having the kind of conversations that make a positive difference to your team performance. Come and talk to us, and we’ll soon have you ship shape!