Handling Sensitive Issues as a Team
4 November 2008
Read by 1898 persons
In every team, there are sensitive, delicate issues that are difficult to address effectively. Scattered discussions, fear of conflict, uncertainty about options... The problem teams face with sensitive issues is often their tendency to 'chitchat', to drift from one topic to another without reaching a conclusion, to decide before listening to everyone's opinions, and especially a difficulty in formulating explicit requests. I propose a small protocol that the team can implement, specifying the role of a "facilitator" who would be the protocol's guardian, but not the decision-maker. I would like to congratulate the G agency team for the authenticity they showed in their first experience with this protocol, and encourage them to continue, with MC as a facilitator full of potential!
1°) Identifying the Issues
A "sensitive issue" has one or more of the following characteristics:
- The issue concerns more than 3 people in the team
- The issue has already been vaguely discussed, but it hasn't been possible to make much progress
- The issue is the subject of indignant whispers at the coffee machine, but no one officially talks about it
- The team fears that the boss will get angry if the issue is raised
- Not addressing the issue impacts the team's productivity or a part of the team's productivity
- A decision is unusually slow in coming
- A decision has been made but has not been followed up
- The issue has been scheduled for several consecutive meetings but has not been addressed.
To identify "sensitive issues", you can:
- Have a section of a whiteboard where everyone can put a post-it note naming a sensitive issue (one issue per post-it)
- Designate a person in the team to collect sensitive issues and ensure they are presented in a meeting
- Reserve 5 minutes at the beginning of the meeting to make this list together.
2°) Organizing the Discussion
Before starting to discuss the issues themselves, structure the discussion time by identifying:
- The order of importance in which the issues will be addressed (if there are several)
- The total time to be allocated to the session
- Remind everyone that the issues will be addressed in order, closing each issue before moving on to the next
- Designate a facilitator to ensure the protocol is followed
- Designate a scribe to take notes of requests and responses (but not debates).
Note on time: A team that is not used to using this protocol may take up to 30 or 40 minutes per issue, but once practiced, the process will go much faster. It is preferable to limit the time and accept that the last issues will not be addressed; choosing the order of importance ensures that the most "important" issues will be addressed.
3°) Addressing Each Issue Methodically
A - SPEAKING
Take time to let everyone who has something to say about the issue speak, respecting the following rules:
- Speak with the positive intention of helping the team; know why you are speaking; don't speak just to vent
- Whenever possible, rely on indisputable facts; give an example; name the circumstances and the people; be specific (watch out for generalizations)
- Formulate anything that is not factual using I-messages: "I think that..., it seems to me that..., I feel..., this is how it bothers me..."
- Choose wording proportionate to what you think, in intensity. The dosage, in the choice of words and tone, allows you to signal to the whole team the degree of importance you attach to what you are saying. Be careful not to overemphasize minor comments, or to formulate major opinions too softly.
- Let each person who is speaking finish without interrupting
- Do not respond: Since the expression is made with a positive intention, there is no need to respond; just listen (however, asking clarifying questions may be useful)
- Do not force yourself to speak on a topic. Remain responsible for what you choose to say or not say.
- Accept that you may have nothing relevant to say on a given topic (which leaves room for those who have specific things to say)
- Carefully listen to what everyone says, even if you don't feel directly concerned.
Sensitive issues and how they are dealt with are an important part of team life, and quality listening from an unconcerned team member is very valuable. Once everyone who had something to say has spoken.
B – REQUESTING
Take time for those who have requests to formulate them, respecting the following rules:
- There may be no requests after the speaking time (in this case, it means either that the exchange was sufficient, or that the team is not ready to take action on this point).
- The people who have requests may be different from those who spoke in A
- Each request must have a sender(s) and a recipient(s)
- Sender and recipients must be competent (it's a request I can make; it's a request this person can hear)
- The wording is explicit, specific; it does not leave the other person to "guess"
- The requester accepts that the answer could be "no", or not now, or not like that, etc... (if the answer "no" is not considered, then it is not a request, it is a demand, and the register changes...) Once all requests have been expressed and noted, check if the recipients of the requests can respond immediately or not. If there is a response, note it; if not, it is a point to follow up in the following days. It is only after completing all the available requests and responses for a sensitive point that it is "closed" and the next point is addressed.
THE FACILITATOR'S ROLE
It is infinitely useful to appoint a person, by the leader or by the team as a whole, to ensure that the rules are followed. Their role will be to focus on:
- Maintaining goodwill and positive intent
- Clarity in formulating questions, comments, opinions and requests
- Respecting the sequence of speaking times to protect the team from the tendency to chitchat and stray from the topic
- And other necessary refocusing. Typical phrases that this person must be able to pronounce and be authorized to pronounce for the good of the team are: - Jacques, this is an opinion and not a fact, would you mind talking about yourself on this point? - Anatole, give an example so we can better understand what you mean? - Irene, wait a little to make your request, we are still in the speaking phase - Noémie, I didn't hear who you are making this request to? - Does Arthur's request seem specific enough to everyone? ... I'm not comfortable with that. - Wait everyone, we're changing the subject! - Stop the chitchat, what do you have to say specifically about this sensitive issue? - If everyone is OK we can move on to the next point.
The facilitator is, if possible, relieved of the responsibility of taking notes (it is already a big job to listen to the processes) and should be able to ask someone to temporarily take over in the subjects where they want to express themselves and make requests. The facilitator's authority: It is for the facilitator to exercise a "healthy authority" over the functioning of the group, by delegation from the team leader. It is essential that this authority is respected, that is to say that when they say stop, the chitchat process stops. The facilitator holds for an hour or two an "authority" that they will only have during this work time. Afterwards, they become a normal member of the team. At no time does the facilitator rule on content issues.
Posted on November 4, 2008
troisiemevoie.com
1°) Identifying the Issues
A "sensitive issue" has one or more of the following characteristics:
- The issue concerns more than 3 people in the team
- The issue has already been vaguely discussed, but it hasn't been possible to make much progress
- The issue is the subject of indignant whispers at the coffee machine, but no one officially talks about it
- The team fears that the boss will get angry if the issue is raised
- Not addressing the issue impacts the team's productivity or a part of the team's productivity
- A decision is unusually slow in coming
- A decision has been made but has not been followed up
- The issue has been scheduled for several consecutive meetings but has not been addressed.
To identify "sensitive issues", you can:
- Have a section of a whiteboard where everyone can put a post-it note naming a sensitive issue (one issue per post-it)
- Designate a person in the team to collect sensitive issues and ensure they are presented in a meeting
- Reserve 5 minutes at the beginning of the meeting to make this list together.
2°) Organizing the Discussion
Before starting to discuss the issues themselves, structure the discussion time by identifying:
- The order of importance in which the issues will be addressed (if there are several)
- The total time to be allocated to the session
- Remind everyone that the issues will be addressed in order, closing each issue before moving on to the next
- Designate a facilitator to ensure the protocol is followed
- Designate a scribe to take notes of requests and responses (but not debates).
Note on time: A team that is not used to using this protocol may take up to 30 or 40 minutes per issue, but once practiced, the process will go much faster. It is preferable to limit the time and accept that the last issues will not be addressed; choosing the order of importance ensures that the most "important" issues will be addressed.
3°) Addressing Each Issue Methodically
A - SPEAKING
Take time to let everyone who has something to say about the issue speak, respecting the following rules:
- Speak with the positive intention of helping the team; know why you are speaking; don't speak just to vent
- Whenever possible, rely on indisputable facts; give an example; name the circumstances and the people; be specific (watch out for generalizations)
- Formulate anything that is not factual using I-messages: "I think that..., it seems to me that..., I feel..., this is how it bothers me..."
- Choose wording proportionate to what you think, in intensity. The dosage, in the choice of words and tone, allows you to signal to the whole team the degree of importance you attach to what you are saying. Be careful not to overemphasize minor comments, or to formulate major opinions too softly.
- Let each person who is speaking finish without interrupting
- Do not respond: Since the expression is made with a positive intention, there is no need to respond; just listen (however, asking clarifying questions may be useful)
- Do not force yourself to speak on a topic. Remain responsible for what you choose to say or not say.
- Accept that you may have nothing relevant to say on a given topic (which leaves room for those who have specific things to say)
- Carefully listen to what everyone says, even if you don't feel directly concerned.
Sensitive issues and how they are dealt with are an important part of team life, and quality listening from an unconcerned team member is very valuable. Once everyone who had something to say has spoken.
B – REQUESTING
Take time for those who have requests to formulate them, respecting the following rules:
- There may be no requests after the speaking time (in this case, it means either that the exchange was sufficient, or that the team is not ready to take action on this point).
- The people who have requests may be different from those who spoke in A
- Each request must have a sender(s) and a recipient(s)
- Sender and recipients must be competent (it's a request I can make; it's a request this person can hear)
- The wording is explicit, specific; it does not leave the other person to "guess"
- The requester accepts that the answer could be "no", or not now, or not like that, etc... (if the answer "no" is not considered, then it is not a request, it is a demand, and the register changes...) Once all requests have been expressed and noted, check if the recipients of the requests can respond immediately or not. If there is a response, note it; if not, it is a point to follow up in the following days. It is only after completing all the available requests and responses for a sensitive point that it is "closed" and the next point is addressed.
THE FACILITATOR'S ROLE
It is infinitely useful to appoint a person, by the leader or by the team as a whole, to ensure that the rules are followed. Their role will be to focus on:
- Maintaining goodwill and positive intent
- Clarity in formulating questions, comments, opinions and requests
- Respecting the sequence of speaking times to protect the team from the tendency to chitchat and stray from the topic
- And other necessary refocusing. Typical phrases that this person must be able to pronounce and be authorized to pronounce for the good of the team are: - Jacques, this is an opinion and not a fact, would you mind talking about yourself on this point? - Anatole, give an example so we can better understand what you mean? - Irene, wait a little to make your request, we are still in the speaking phase - Noémie, I didn't hear who you are making this request to? - Does Arthur's request seem specific enough to everyone? ... I'm not comfortable with that. - Wait everyone, we're changing the subject! - Stop the chitchat, what do you have to say specifically about this sensitive issue? - If everyone is OK we can move on to the next point.
The facilitator is, if possible, relieved of the responsibility of taking notes (it is already a big job to listen to the processes) and should be able to ask someone to temporarily take over in the subjects where they want to express themselves and make requests. The facilitator's authority: It is for the facilitator to exercise a "healthy authority" over the functioning of the group, by delegation from the team leader. It is essential that this authority is respected, that is to say that when they say stop, the chitchat process stops. The facilitator holds for an hour or two an "authority" that they will only have during this work time. Afterwards, they become a normal member of the team. At no time does the facilitator rule on content issues.
Posted on November 4, 2008
troisiemevoie.com
