Teams that get it right, do this...

In this episode of the Leadership Vision Podcast, host Nathan Freeburg and founder Brian Schubring discuss the transformative concept of "Teams that Get it Right." The conversation explores how strategic communication and ensuring all voices are heard can dramatically improve team dynamics. 

Key points include:

• The importance of neurological triggers for immediate action.
• The necessity of including every team member's voice.
• The strategic amplification of voices based on situational needs. 

The episode offers practical strategies for leaders to enhance team communication, such as regular check-ins, structured meetings, and fostering an environment of active listening. Tune in to gain actionable insights on creating a psychologically safe and inclusive workplace where every voice matters.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You're listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build a positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this work for the past 25 years so that leaders are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Friberg and today, on the podcast, I wanted to share something special with you. This was an insight that I had from a recent meeting with our founder, brian Shubring. In our meeting about potential podcast ideas and things we could share on social media, we had this idea of translating some of the stuff that we do with our clients into more like bite-sized, actionable things that we could put on our podcast, and Brian talked about this concept. It's this thing that we have called Teams that Get it Right. We do this during our team engagement session, so listen to this little snippet and then I'm gonna be back with some instructions.

Speaker 2: 0:54

We also have a thing called Teams that Get it Right. We say that all the time. So when we're doing a team session, we'll say Teams that Get it Right, do this. We've been using that a lot and that's a neurological trigger of saying what can I do right now? Which solicits a response in the brain.

Speaker 2: 1:13

You can't think too far ahead, you can't think too far back. It's tangible, it's relational, it's executable, it's small, it gets you moving and it makes you more mindful of what's happening right now. It engages a whole different part of the brain when you start to think about just what's in front of me. And one of the things that Linda has been pushing on me big time lately is to do something with our leaders that I do in my cycling class and that's Scream at them, yeah, louder, because louder makes them ride faster. The pro challenge I'll say to the group here's a challenge that we're going to be doing for the next nine minutes. I'll explain the whole challenge, I'll break it down and I'll say but the pro challenge is, you know, if you want to up this game a little bit and you really want to get a different result to the workout, here's the pro challenge.

Speaker 1: 2:03

Hey, it's Nathan again. Real quick, all right. So here's your pro challenge for the day. As Brian reads these things about teams that get it right, I want you to think about how well you do with these things, both personally and in your team, and then again I'll be back in a second with a few more thoughts on this. Love the teams that get it right. Give me one right now. Okay, this is easy.

Speaker 2: 2:26

Teams that get it right. Know that healthy communication includes everyone's voice being heard. That's number one. Teams that get communication right. Understand whose voice needs to be heard, when and where, and by whom. Whose voice needs to be heard when and where and by whom.

Speaker 1: 2:48

Okay, so, reflecting on what Brian shared there, today's podcast is going to be a little bit different and centered around this theme Teams that get it right and specifically, we're going to talk about, and dive into just a little bit, some facets of healthy communication within a team. So first let's talk about why it's crucial for every team member's voice to be heard. Now, imagine a team where only the loudest voices dominate every discussion. What happens to the quieter voices? Well, often they hold some of the most insightful to express their thoughts and ideas without fear of being dismissed or even overlooked. But there's a balance, right. It's not just about making sure that everyone can speak. It's about knowing whose voice needs to be heard and at what time. Now this leads to the second point here, and that's the idea of understanding the dynamics of when to encourage certain voices over others. For example and this is going to be a very simplistic one but if your team is resolving some sort of technical issue, well, the voices of your IT experts should be at the forefront, right, and maybe, conversely, when you're discussing some sort of team morale or client relationships, that's when your HR team or client services managers, maybe that's when they take precedence. But, like I said, that's very simplistic. That's almost too simplistic. To use an example, and I do it just to show you kind of maybe the obvious way of making sure voices are heard. But maybe sometimes the IT folks maybe there's one person in particular that never speaks up, maybe they're not the person who is going to raise their hand, offer the suggestion you need to be aware of that and draw them out, and probably everyone on your team knows who that person is and maybe they can contribute in some way that nobody thinks about because they just don't offer it, that nobody thinks about because they just don't offer it. And also, when you're thinking about strengths, it's not like IT only does IT and HR only does HR.

Speaker 1: 5:12

Sometimes, and depending on the size of your team and the problem and what's going on in your organization, it can be really helpful to draw in different voices from different areas to sort of creatively solve problems that are maybe too big for any one department or certainly any one person. And the best of the best leaders, they know this. This strategic communication requires leaders to be not only keen observers but also skilled facilitators, and we think that the role of a leader is to channel the discussion in a way that the most relevant and useful ideas surface at the right time. It's about recognizing the strengths and expertise of each team member and then leveraging those at the moments that most benefit the team's objectives. But remember, this isn't just about this person has these strengths and so call on them in these situations. It's about knowing who and how and when different voices need to speak up, and sometimes, maybe, if a voice isn't speaking up, maybe they're the ones who need to speak up now. Okay, so let's consider the practical application of these concepts, like how do we ensure that communication within our teams meets these ideals?

Speaker 1: 6:23

Well, there's a lot of different ways, so here's just a couple of quick strategies and some suggestions. So, number one have regular check-ins. Yes, all leaders know this, but do you have scheduled times where each team member can share updates and concerns or ideas? This can really make sure that everybody has a designated time to speak and to speak up. Number two structured meetings. So design meetings with clear agendas that include time for input from various team members, especially those whose expertise is relevant to the agenda items, and maybe especially for people who don't often speak up.

Speaker 1: 6:59

Number three encourage active listening. This is hard. I struggle with this myself. But if you can promote an environment where active listening is practiced by all, well that's just better. Now, this means listening to understand, not just listening to respond or just listening and waiting to talk. It involves giving feedback that shows the speaker you know whoever is talking that they have been understood.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Okay, so how do we actually measure if we're successful in these endeavors? Well, it can be hard, but reflection and feedback, we think, are key in this. So, after meetings and maybe during reviews, ask your team members if they felt heard and if the right voices emerged at the right times. This can be done through a lot of different ways, but anonymous surveys, one-on-one meetings or even during a team reflection. And, as the leader, hopefully, you are creating a space where people feel safe, where they feel that sense of psychological safety. You know, when 49 people in a team of 50 have one opinion and they need to feel safe enough, that one person, that 50th person, as we learned in a recent podcast with Dr Mary Ellen Peltier that they feel safe so that they can speak up and offer a dissenting opinion. Well, you know that you've made some progress. Now, as we wrap up here today's podcast. I just want you to reflect on your own teams. Consider, perhaps, the balance of voices in your discussions. Are you creating space for everyone to be heard? Are you ensuring that the right voices are amplified at the necessary and right moments? Healthy communication is a dynamic and it's an evolving process that requires intention, attention and action.

Speaker 1: 8:46

Thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show, helping you build a positive team culture from this podcast or any of our other online material. We would love it if you could review our podcast, either in Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It really does help let other people know about the show but perhaps most importantly, just share it with someone that you think could benefit from this material. As always, you can find us on the web at leadershipvisionconsultingcom, or we're on all the social media platforms. You can reach out to me, connect at leadershipvisionconsultingcom I know very long URL If you would like to ask a question or find out maybe if we can work with your team to achieve some goal, to get over perhaps a hump, perhaps, you know, just create more health in your team in any way, or even just bounce some ideas off of you. We would love to help in any way we can. My name is Nathan Freeberg and, on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.