#HAVING COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS HOW TO#

Start your meeting together, with a senior leader sharing the intentions and ground rules with everyone. Designate a facilitator who can manage that kind of discussion for each group. The goal is to ensure that each person feels they can share freely without judgment or criticism, even when individuals may disagree. If your organization has low trust if COVID, race or politics are charged topics for you or if there is a wide variety of thought, feeling and opinion across your business, more facilitation and organization may be needed to create a positive experience. If you have a high-trust environment where employees can have respectful conversations about tough topics, then less structure will be needed. You should start together in a large group and then break into groups of about six to eight to for conversation, so prepare your breakout groups carefully. This works great on video conferencing technology to ensure everyone is physically safe. If you're a leader, express how important this conversation is and support your team to clear their calendars.

Make sure everyone is expected to join and participate. Set up dedicated time to have this talk, at least 60 to 90 minutes. This is a time to share questions and concerns and to provide an opportunity for everyone to ask for support. All feelings, concerns, hopes or anxieties are welcome. The goal is to provide a secure space for every person to share their experience, whatever it is, not to fix or solve anything.

#HAVING COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS HOW TO#

How to lead courageous office conversations 1. It works best if the whole company participates, but even talking at the team level can help. So, here’s a quick guide for setting up what might feel like a difficult discussion. Opening up the conversation validated people’s feelings, gave them a new and psychologically safe outlet and helped everyone feel cared for. Many parents talked about the hopes and fears they have for their children and the tough dinner table discussions they’d been having. One man learned that even people who look different from him shared the same fears.Īnother woman said her family discussions were so charged, it was a relief to get to share her feelings calmly. The benefits reported by employees were huge.įolks shared their feelings of relief and said talking to their peers helped them feel less alone. I know it will because we had this discussion twice since the murder of George Floyd, once with our management team and then with the entire company. Still, they are fears you need to take on if you, your team, and your company want to move forward in the middle of a crisis (such as that teeny global pandemic that is still going on.) Worrying about adding salt to wounds or saying the wrong thing are reasonable concerns.

They enable leaders and employees, both Black and non-Black to become more comfortable having dialogue around race.”

“These conversations lead to a better understanding of the needs of others, such as Black employees. “Courageous conversations in the workplace are part of developing a learning culture,” explains Tony Bond, EVP chief diversity & innovation officer, Great Place To Work ®.

Why is it important to have courageous conversations in the workplace? They are the sort of conversations that can stir strong emotions, which might feel out of place for work, and they require careful and mindful discussion. Ĭourageous conversations in the workplace are about broaching complex and sensitive subjects like race and privilege with your team, boss or HR manager. And these experiences are crucial for things like employee well-being, innovation and productivity. You’re very likely scared that you, or someone else, will say the wrong thing, mess it up or cause more pain.īut avoiding the subject altogether can undermine employee trust, inclusion and belonging at work. You probably don’t want to have a tough conversation in your workplace.

Having courageous conversations