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Building a psychologically safe workplace | Amy Edmondson | TEDxHGSE

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Of the five key dynamics of effective teams that the researchers identified, psychological safety was by far the most important. The Google researchers found that individuals on teams with higher psychological safety are less likely to leave Google, they're more likely to harness the power of diverse ideas from their teammates, they bring in more revenue, and they're rated as effective twice as often by executives.

Organizational behavioral scientist Amy Edmondson of Harvard first introduced the construct of "team psychological safety" and defined it as "a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking." Taking a risk around your team members may sound simple. But asking a basic question like "what's the goal of this project?" may make you sound like you're out of the loop. It might feel easier to continue without getting clarification in order to avoid being perceived as ignorant.

To measure a team's level of psychological safety, Edmondson asked team members how strongly they agreed or disagreed with these statements:

1. If you make a mistake on this team, it is often held against you.

2. Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.

3. People on this team sometimes reject others for being different.

4. It is safe to take a risk on this team.

5. It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help.

6. No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts.

7. Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized.

In her TEDx talk, Edmondson offers three simple things individuals can do to foster team psychological safety:

1. Frame the work as a learning problem, not an execution problem.

2. Acknowledge your own fallibility.

3. Model curiosity and ask lots of questions.

In promoting the results of Google's research internally, the research team has been running workshops with teams. In the workshops, anonymized scenarios have been used to illustrate behaviors that can support and harm psychological safety. The scenarios are role-played and then the group debriefs. Here's an example scenario:

Psychological Safety Scenario | Ideas & Innovation

Uli is a long time manager known for his technical expertise. For the past two years he's worked as manager of team XYZ, which is responsible for running a large scale project. He upholds very high standards, but in the past few months Uli has become increasingly intolerant of mistakes, ideas he considers to be "underpar," and challenges to his way of thinking.

Recently, Uli publically "trounced" an idea offered by an experienced team member and spoke very negatively about that person to the wider team behind their back. Everyone else thought the idea was strong, well-researched, and worth exploring. Ideas have since dried up.

Uli's ideas drove the recent project proposal, but it was ultimately rejected by the executives because it lacked creativity and innovation.

Debriefing questions:

What behaviors do you see that reflect psychological safety?

What behaviors may signal that psychological safety is lacking in the scenario?

Why is psychological safety so important? What difference does it make in a team? What have you seen on your teams?

If you're a manager, consider these recommendations when coaching team members and teammates.

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re:Work - Guide: Understand team effectiveness

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Of the five key dynamics of effective teams that the researchers identified, psychological safety was by far the most important. The Google researchers found that individuals on teams with higher psychological safety are less likely to leave Google, they're more likely to harness the power of diverse ideas from their teammates, they bring in more revenue, and they're rated as effective twice as often by executives.

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Re-Thinking Leadership (with Michele Zanini)

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Middle Managers are the glue and storehouse of information. They need to be released to lead innovation and change.

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Complete the sentence - I am excited to get up and go to school each morning because I get to...

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Complete the sentence - I am excited to get up and go to school each morning because I get to...

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If you'd like to be part of transformation from the middle, leave your name, contact and 1 idea you want to pursue in comments below. We need to do this together to make it work.

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If you'd like to be part of transformation from the middle, leave your name, contact and 1 idea you want to pursue in comments below. We need to do this together to make it work.

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Because we need to stop "playing school" and drive radical change

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Because we need to stop "playing school" and drive radical change

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Because we need to get Cracking on SDG 4.7

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Because we need to get Cracking on SDG 4.7

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Exercises for Building Psychological Safety 

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Exercises for Building Psychological Safety 

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How to encourage courageous conversations at the workplace

How to promote Psychological Safety in the workplace has never been as important as now. The line between work and personal life has blurred. Social issues such as a global pandemic, racism, and economic turmoil are taking a heavy psychological toll on us. More than 80% of people believe the future is a significant source of stress. Organizations must support employees and help them cope in times of crisis.

But how can you promote courageous conversations?

Research shows that even those who are naturally more inclined to share ideas and offer suggestions may not do so if they fear being put down or punished. On the flip side, encouraging and rewarding speaking up can help more people to do so, even if they're more risk-averse.

The practice of establishing ground rules for conversations is crucial to promote diversity of thought and collaboration. Speaking up, being candid, challenging other people's ideas while being respectful and constructive are foundational for innovation and growth.

That's where Psychological Safety comes into play.

The problem is that most articles offer vague advice, but fail to provide concrete methods and tools to put into practice right away. In this article, you'll find 9 actionable exercises to start promoting psychological safety in your organization (additional resources at the end).

1. Facilitate a Check-In Round to Promote Psychological Safety

The mindset that a team brings to a meeting will shape the outcome. You can't expect people to put their emotions aside; addressing them will help people feel safe and focused. As meetings expert, Emily Axelrod, wrote, "How you enter a space and how you leave a space is as important as what happens in the space."

A check-in round is more than a warm-up exercise; it's an intentional practice to open a session and increase self and team awareness. A facilitator invites each member to share what (mindset) they're bringing to the table before the work conversation starts - one at a time.

Checking-in is about addressing the status of your mind, not that of a project. This practice allows people to be fully present and feel listened to. It reinforces collective trust, gives everyone a voice, and reminds us that we're human.

There are as many check-in questions as teams on earth. Here are a few that are simple and effective:
What has got your attention? What mindset are you bringing to this meeting? What kind of a day have you had so far?
Facilitating a check-in round is an easy way to start building psychological safety. However, doing it right requires time and practice. At first, people might find it childish or a waste of time; most people will share something just to get out of the spotlight. In time, people will start opening up and realize the power of sharing.

Read this post to learn more about how to facilitate a check-in round.

2. How to Promote Psychological Safety with Conversational Turn-Taking

In most organizations, 80% of the conversations are dominated by only 20% of the participants. Psychological Safety is not just about helping people feel safe, but encouraging participation - all voices must be heard.

Women, minority groups, and introverts who choose to stay silent at work rather than run the risk of unfair criticism and judgment aren't just being afraid. They're being silenced by louder people.

Research by Adam Grant shows that it is much more difficult for women to earn recognition than it is for men. By analyzing different companies, the organizational psychologist found that when male employees introduce an idea to increase revenue, they get significantly higher performance reviews than women who contributed equally valuable insights.

Conversational turn-taking is a useful practice to ensure that everyone gets their air time. Most importantly, you want to give more room to the quiet voices over the louder ones.

Australian tech unicorn Atlassian practices conversational turn-taking to ensure even participation among all team members. When participants speak one-at-a-time in alternating turns, you can avoid interruptions and groupthink.

Senior executives get to talk last, so they don't influence or intimidate others. As Simon Sinek said, "Leader always eat last."

3. The No-Interruptions Rule

What's the point of inviting someone to a meeting only to have every idea silenced by someone more extroverted?

Making space for different kinds of people, voices, and ideas is crucial for the success of any business. For a person who's continually being interrupted, meetings quickly become a painful experience. The lack of psychological safety makes people feel anxious and choose to stay silent.

The "No-Interruptions Rules" is self-explanatory: when someone is talking, the rest should actively listen. Sharing an opinion, reacting to what the person is saying, or trying to impose one's ideas over others is not allowed. Make room for people to speak freely and feel valued.

Interrupt people when they interrupt others.

Atlassian encourages employees to call out someone who is being silenced inadvertently in a meeting. People should be firm but fair. Aubrey Blanche, Atlassian's Global Head of Diversity & Belonging, suggests using a phrase such as, "Hold on, Bob - I want to make sure I understand Jessica's point before moving on."

The no-interruptions rule quickly improves the quality of the meeting experience. People feel safe and protected by a system that ensures every voice is welcome and valued.

Talk to repeat offenders to ensure they can adjust their behavior in future meetings.

4. Uncover the Stinky Fish (Before it Rots)

The stinky fish canvas is a metaphor for issues that we don't want to talk about. The longer we avoid a problem, the stinker it gets.

The "Uncover the Stinky Fish" canvas is a visual tool for people to expose what makes them feel anxious and afraid. It helps people address past issues they can't get over and, most importantly, talk about what everybody's thinking, but no one is saying.

Facilitating this exercise is simple - but challenging, too. People feel encouraged to fill the canvas with all the issues that keep them awake at night. However, sharing those issues in the open requires building a psychologically safe space to address all stinky fishes, not just the easy ones.

When facilitating this exercise virtually, I like to ask each participant to share one post-it; it doesn't matter from which of the four quadrants or if they decide to choose an easy topic or a hard issue.

For me, the most crucial factor is to get people talking; to get the conversation started. You can then have a second or third round inviting everyone to share another post-it from their Stinky Fish. Usually, people begin to feel more comfortable and address more sensitive topics.

Another way to build psychological safety while facilitating the Stinky Fish Canvas is by using the 1-2-4-All approach (I explain that below).

To download the Uncover the Stinky Fish Canvas and read the full-facilitation guide, visit this post.

5. Host an Anxiety Party (An Effective Exercise to Promote Psychological Safety)

Don't get caught up with the name; anxiety parties are an excellent way to promote psychological safety -- they make teams more vulnerable and effective.

A design team at Google Ventures first came up with this idea. They maintained a relatively flat structure, enjoyed the benefits of freedom and autonomy, yet missed getting critical feedback. Something was missing.

Exploring different options, Daniel Burka realized that what they really needed was, "a structured time where we could be vulnerable and get our anxieties out in the open." So, they decided to throw an Anxiety Party.

First, everyone spends 10 minutes individually writing down their biggest anxieties (you can use the Uncover the Stinky Fish Canvas for this). Then, people are given two minutes to rank issues-from most to least worrying.

Next, each person gets to share the anxiety that worries them the most. Colleagues score the issue based on how much it troubles them from a zero ("It never even occurred to me that this was an issue") to five ("I strongly believe you need to improve in this area").

After reviewing all fundamental anxieties, it turns out that most are baseless--we usually worry about pointless things. Getting people's feedback in the form of a score makes the anxiety go away.

Many anxieties can be well-founded, though. Start by addressing the issues that get a 4 or a 5. Discuss with the team what needs to happen and whether it requires an individual or collective behavioral changes.

The Google Venture have turned Anxiety Parties into a regular event; they host them twice a year.

I've facilitated many with my clients and can tell you they are a great way to promote psychological safety in a team. Realizing that one might worry about something that means nothing for the team is really liberating. On the other hand, it makes people comfortable with getting feedback and fixing well-founded anxieties.

6. Gradually Open the Conversation: 1-2-4-All

People feel more comfortable talking to strangers or one single person than to a larger group. Brainstorming sessions or large meetings can be intimidating for most; people don't feel psychologically safe to speak up and share their ideas in the open.

The 1-2-4-All method is part of Liberating Structures, a compilation of over 30 microstructures for facilitating meetings and conversations developed by Keith McCandless and Henri Lipmanowicz.

This method is ideal for encouraging participation in problem-solving or feedback sessions. It helps with open and candid conversation by making people feel safe to share gradually.

People start working on their own and, then, gradually share their thoughts with more people until the whole group works together as one.

Though this tool was mainly designed for brainstorming, I use it as a much for team building and feedback sessions, too. For example, it works very well when facilitating the Stinky Fish Canvas or an Anxiety Party.

Follow this sequence. Allow people to work on their own (the duration depends on which exercise you are facilitating). Then, pair up people and give each duo 2 minutes to share individual ideas. Next, give them 2-3 minutes to discuss and find surprises, contradictions, and commonalities. They should also use this time to build on each other's ideas.

Rinse and repeat. Duos pair up, forming foursomes, and each group of four has 4 minutes to share and continue building on each other's ideas. Finally, each team shares their critical thoughts, which are consolidated. Depending on their nature, people can rank the most pressing issues or vote on the best ideas if it's a brainstorming session.

The progression is what gives this Liberating Structure its name: 1-2-4-All. Read more about this exercise here.

Note: When working with large groups, I like to add an additional round. I practice 1-2-4-8-All.

7. Promote Psychological Safety to Address Silent Problems

We can only solve the problem that we talk about. Avoiding issues won't make them go away; they will actually come back to hunt us. Freud referred to denial as "the state of knowing but not knowing."

Denial is a cultural thing. When leaders avoid conflict, their team will adopt the same pattern. Silencing issues quickly becomes an unwritten company rule.

Hold a meeting and invite your team to address silent problems.

First, name the problem. Ask people to list all the issues that are being avoided, or people don't want to talk about, or are taboo. Remind them that, as a team, they can only solve the problems that are made explicit.

Naming the problem turns it from silent to real.

Second, share accountability. Address the root cause of that problem. Rather than finding a single person who's causing it or should fix it, turn the issue into a collective matter.
What are the things that we ARE doing to perpetuate this problem? What are the things that we are NOT doing to perpetuate this problem? What shall we start and stop doing to solve this issue?
Destigmatize problems: most organizations associate problems with weaknesses. However, denial is the real sign of being weak - it requires courage to address problems rather than avoid them. It requires us to acknowledge that we don't have all the answers. As Brené Brown said, "Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage

Have someone play the devil's advocate role - groupthink and the desire for consensus blind people. It's vital to have a team member who always challenges our perspective.

Promote a culture that addresses cultural tensions in a healthy and regular way. Positive friction creates energy that propels teams into the future.

8. Celebrate the Messenger

Creating a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves is just one side of the Psychological Safety coin. The other side is how managers react to people when they share their ideas, concerns, and mistakes. We must learn to embrace the messenger, as Amy Edmondson, author of The Fearless Organization, recommends.

Being candid is not just about speaking the truth; it also involves delivering bad news. So, how do we overcome a culture that immediately wants to kill the messenger?

Organizations need to increase their bad news tolerance. Divergent, dissident voices are crucial to driving innovation and growth. However, as the authors of this HBR piece wrote, "Yet some leaders demonize the people, accusing them of being the problem instead of solving the problem that is being raised."

The Chinese doctor who tried to issue the first warning about the deadly coronavirus was fired. A US Navy Captain was let go for addressing the COVID-19 outbreak in his ship. Hospitals have put doctors on notice for speaking out about a lack of medical gear.

When someone steps forward with bad news, leaders must show appreciation and respect. Don't kill the messenger because you don't like the news; be thankful because they are bringing valuable information. As OpenTable former's CEO, Christa Quarles, said, "No amount of ugly truth scares me. It's just information to make a decision."

The same way that some organizations have turned celebrating mistakes into a ritual, practice celebrating the messenger. Reward people who bear bad or not-so-good news to raise problems that need to be addressed right away.
Do you have an ongoing space to address bad news? How do you encourage people to raise difficult topics? How will you reward those who speak up?
Celebrate the messenger instead of demonizing those who bring issues forward.

9. Promote Psychological Safety by Sharing Personal Stories

Empathy is crucial to building trust. The more we get to know and understand our colleagues, the more we can trust each other.

Belonging - the idea that we are close - is one of the three characteristics of successful teams, altogether with Psychological Safety (We feel safe) and Alignment (We share a future).

Stories are the perfect way to increase a sense of belonging and start building psychological safety among teams. The purpose of this exercise is to get to know your colleagues at a deeper level, understand their feelings and emotions, and share the stories that shaped their lives.

It never fails to amaze me how much people don't know about their colleagues and how sharing personal stories deepens relationships.

There are many ways you can do this.

One is to ask people to share personal stories with each other. Give them 5-10 minutes each and then switch. Once all the groups have finished, each person needs to tell the story they heard in the first person as if it was theirs. Not only does this reinforce belonging, but it deepens empathy, too.

You can also use the 36 Questions that turn strangers into friends. This requires more time; to go through all questions might take between one and two hours, but it's worth the experience. For team retreats, I usually run shorter versions (each person answers 5 questions) which serves the purpose of revealing secrets and strengthening bonding.

Another more straightforward way is to ask people to "share a meaningful story; something that happened to you that you feel proud about, but very few people know." The key lies in the words "feel proud" and "very few know"--they help trigger profound and revealing stories.

Increasing a sense of belonging strengthens not only interpersonal relationships, but also promotes psychological safety among teams. Encourage your team to have more personal conversations. Start by sharing meaningful stories.

Want to promote psychological safety in your organization?

Reach out and let's discuss how we can help

Join our Psychological Safety online workshop

Related Posts

The Psychological Safety Ladder Canvas - a framework and tool to map, assess, and improve psychological safety in remote teams.
High-Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety How to Build a Culture of Psychological Safety 7 Ways to Promote Psychological Safety in the Workplace Move Your Culture from Fear to Fearlessness

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9 Exercises to Promote Psychological Safety in Your Organization | By Gustavo Razzetti

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How to promote Psychological Safety in the workplace has never been as important as now. The line between work and personal life has blurred. Social issues such as a global pandemic, racism, and economic turmoil are taking a heavy psychological toll on us. More than 80% of people believe the future is a significant source of stress.

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Now a Wall Street Journal Bestseller

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Gary Hamel

Gary Hamel is on the faculty of the London Business School and is a cofounder of the Management Lab, an organization that builds technology and tools to support breakthrough management innovation. Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the world's most influential business thinker, Professor Hamel's landmark books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. They include The Future of Management and What Matters Now.

garyhamel.com | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram

Michele Zanini

Michele Zanini is a cofounder of the Management Lab, where he helps large organizations become more adaptable, innovative and engaging places to work. Zanini is an alumnus of McKinsey & Company and the RAND Corporation, and holds degrees from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

michelezanini.com | Twitter | LinkedIn

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Now a Wall Street Journal Bestseller From Gary Hamel, Wall Street Journal's #1 business thinker, and noted consultant Michele Zanini, a revolutionary manifesto and practical manual for freeing the human spirit at work. Order Now Special Offer For a limited time, purchase Humanocracy and receive free access to Humanocracy: Hack My Org, the new online course from Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini.

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Amy Edmundson's work on psychological safety is considered foundational principle for all effective teams

1. Frame problem in terms of learning, not execution.
2.Acknowledge fallibility or inadequacy
3. Model curiosity

Where there is no psychological safety, there will be default to maintaining the status quo (don't rock the boat).

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"Ask the bus-drivers!" (Herrmann, M. June 8, 2022)

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Do not wait to be given permission to lead!

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Do not wait to be given permission to lead!

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What is leadership?
"Activating a community"
"Having followership" - ask any GenZ
"Climate control"

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The Problem: Using a 20th century system/imagination to create a 21st century education

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The Problem: Using a 20th century system/imagination to create a 21st century education

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https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/23982/women-machinists

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What has changed since the late Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk?

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What has changed since the late Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk?

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How to escape education's death valley | Sir Ken Robinson | TED

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IB educator who believes in education for a "better and more peaceful world".

Teach IBDP Economics

HOD in multiple schools

Doctoral candidate in University of Illinois, Department of Educational Policy and Organizational Leadership. Area of research - Cosmopolitanism and Global Citizenship Education

Mother of 2 GenZers!

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Disclaimer - I do not have answers!
a. What is the current context?
b. What is transformation from the middle? Why are middle managers key to change?
c. What are possible first steps?
d. Let's keep the conversation going....

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https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/the-real-world-guide-to-team-norms/

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1. Diversity not conformity
2. Curiosity not compliance
3. Creativity not standardization (testing)

Education is seen as an industrial process rather than a human system.

Role of Education Leadership is not command and control but climate control - a climate that encourages diversity, curiosity and creativity.

Teachers are the lifeblood of schools

Where there is no learning, there is no education.

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Yet....reality is schools are high on BMI and have not changed much

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Yet....reality is schools are high on BMI and have not changed much

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Take the Bureaucratic Mass Index (BMI) survey

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Take the Bureaucratic Mass Index (BMI) survey

Baseline the cost of bureaucratic drag in your organization by answering 10 questions*. At the end of the survey, you'll get an overall "BMI score" that is benchmarked against responses from over 10,000 Harvard Business Review readers. (For more on the survey, including the full list of questions, scoring methodology, and benchmarks, click here).

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Baseline the cost of bureaucratic drag in your organization by answering 10 questions*. At the end of the survey, you'll get an overall "BMI score" that is benchmarked against responses from over 10,000 Harvard Business Review readers. (For more on the survey, including the full list of questions, scoring methodology, and benchmarks, click here).

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What would it take to get you excited about waking up in the morning to go to school to be a transformative middle manager/ HOD?

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What would it take to get you excited about waking up in the morning to go to school to be a transformative middle manager/ HOD?

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Top down, uni-directional, dumbing down of middle managers, reducing them to messenger boy/girl

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2. Adopt Human Centered Design Approach to All Problem Solving

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2. Adopt Human Centered Design Approach to All Problem Solving

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Place Human Flourishing at the Centre!

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Worthwhile to learn as a team - then to adopt such a framework to solve a problem that you all own.

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Learn It! Try It! Apply It! Series
Introduction to Human-Centered Design

Expected Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this series, you'll be

Able to identify key elements of human-centered design thinking and what separates it from other problem-solving approaches.

Able to make initial connections between human-centered design and design thinking, the mindsets they support and K-12 academic standard

Able to use the SCD Taxonomy and understand how it supports the human-centered design process steps

Thinking like a design thinker and ready to sign up for our second course of the series, Try It! when it is released in SY21/22!

More questions? Click for the FAQ

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Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and Communications

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Learn It! Try It! Apply It! SeriesIntroduction to Human-Centered Design Upon successful completion of this series, you'll be Able to identify key elements of human-centered design thinking and what separates it from other problem-solving approaches.

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Do not forget that subtraction, not addition is a viable solution!

Example - Anna Keichline’s K Brick versus solid blocks. She patented the design in 1927.

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The human drive to invent new things has led to pathbreaking achievements in medicine, science and society. But our desire for innovation can keep us from seeing one of the most powerful paths to progress: subtraction. Engineer Leidy Klotz says sometimes the best way forward involves removing, streamlining and simplifying things.

Additional Resources
BOOK:
Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, by Leidy Klotz, 2021.
RESEARCH:
People Systematically Overlook Subtractive Changes, by Gabrielle S. Adams, et al., Nature, 2021.

Investigating the Mechanisms of Hoarding from an Experimental Perspective, by Stephanie D. Preston, Jordana R. Muroff, and Steven M. Wengrovitz, Depression and Anxiety, 2009.

Neural Predictors of Purchases, by Brian Knutson, et al, Neuron, 2007.

An Intervention to Decrease Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections in the ICU, by Peter Pronovost et al., The New England Journal of Medicine, 2006.

Monumental Architecture: A Thermodynamic Explanation of Symbolic Behavior, by Bruce G. Trigger, World Archaeology, 1990.

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The human drive to invent new things has led to pathbreaking achievements in medicine, science and society. But our desire for innovation can keep us from seeing one of the most powerful paths to progress: subtraction. Engineer Leidy Klotz says sometimes the best way forward involves removing, streamlining and simplifying things.

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1. What are your top 3-5 values
2. What part of your work allows you to live out these values?
3. What part of your work detracts you from living these values?
4. What could be done to ensure 2 happens more?

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Keeping your team motivated and moving in the same direction is something we all want. Checking in with your team quarterly is something we all do. Caring about your team's growth and career trajectory is something we all say we want.

A couple of years ago I spent time making these ideas real, actionable, and connected. I did this through a Core Values exercise.

- Excerpt from Amber Sawaya Built A Career Around User Experience; Utah Business 40 Under 40 2019 Interview

I came across this idea from a James Clear article:

Read the article-the gist is that holding to your core values will help you navigate when times get tough. I sent this article to my team and asked them to choose 5 values from his 50+ Core Values list.

I asked each team member to choose their five values-and it has to be exactly five. Almost all of them went on the same emotional rollercoaster:

Each of them had an easy time choosing two or three values.

All of them had a hard time getting to five.

Some of them tried to sneak in a bonus sixth.

It is a challenge to whittle down your list once your easy values are chosen. Just because 'competency' isn't on your core values list doesn't mean it's not important to you. The same with all of the other values, but that's what makes this exercise meaningful-you have to get to exactly five.

One employee shared with me that they had a hard time with their values because they felt like they had personal, secret values, and then the values they would want to share with their boss. I encouraged them to go with their real/secret ones, assured them they could be kept confidential if desired, and that this was what is important to them, not to me. They went with the more personal one and we talked about perceptions and that it's okay to be true to yourself and what you want out of the world and work.

After we did the exercise my team decided to share their values with one another. I originally planned to keep these all confidential-but the team requested it so we all shared. The team found it extremely interesting to know what made their coworkers tick. The overlapping values were as interesting as the ones that were only on one person's list. To give you an idea, mine are:

Ok, we're far from done-but too many organizations stop here. Once we had identified our values and shared them and had some good conversations we connected them to what we're doing.

We did quarterly checkpoints-long term and short term goals-and I asked each person to list their values on the document. When we'd do our quarterly check-ins I'd go through their list of values and ask:

Are these values still serving you?

How is work supporting or detracting from your values?

Pro tip: Quarterlies are great, weekly 1:1s are great - now loop them together. Once a month at their 1:1s, I'd ask my reports to review their quarterly goals, make sure they were on track, and ask if there is anything they needed help with. I'd do this the first 1:1 of the month.

One story I often tell when I'm encouraging people to do a core values exercise is about one of my employees that had 'community' on their list. I happened to know that this person really valued community engagement and activism. I also knew they were working long hours and putting in a lot of energy to our startup.

I asked, "How can work better support your value of community?"

They replied, "I just need to find more time to write code for these community organizations."

I asked if they had anything left in the tank when they got home. They didn't. None of us did. This is a hard thing for designers and developers-we want to provide our particular talents in pursuit of things that are important to us. Too often though, we're totally spent after our long work weeks. That's okay.

I suggested that we find different ways for them to be involved. We came up with a plan together. They would occasionally take a short day Friday to volunteer (they rolled burritos for the homeless) and made sure to put important public policy meetings on their work calendar so they could make sure they attended, even if it was during work hours.

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Strengthen your Team with a Meaningful Core Value Exercise

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Keeping your team motivated and moving in the same direction is something we all want. Checking in with your team quarterly is something we all do. Caring about your team's growth and career trajectory is something we all say we want. A couple of years ago I spent time making these ideas real, actionable, and connected.

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How do individuals' values, work and talents pull in the same direction as the mission and vision of the organization?