SAFETY DANCE

Team Safety• What is it

• Why it’s important

• Safety Check (how to measure it)

• Tips for improving it

But first…thank you!

@philmarkrosete@hkoebler

What is it• TL;DR - The level of trust among the team

• Psychological Safety, Organizational Culture

• “A shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”

• “A sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up.”

• “It describes a team climate characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves.”

Resource: Amy Edmondson

What is itCore Principle of Modern Agile

Safety is both a basic human need and a key to unlocking high performance. We actively make safety a prerequisite by establishing safety before engaging in any hazardous work. We protect people’s time, information, reputation, money, health and relationships. And we endeavor to make our collaborations, products and services resilient and safe.

Why it’s important• TL;DR - Crucial to building an effective, high performing and highly

engaged team, which values and is driven by trust, transparency, and collaboration.

• “Interpersonal risk is a powerful barrier to collaboration and good decision making in organizations.”

• “Reluctance to offer ideas and expertise undermines many decisions and harms the execution of work that requires judgment or collaboration.”

• “By creating a team climate that encourages people to embrace potentially risky contributions, the team will be rewarded with better decisions, motivated members, and improved performance.”

Resource: Amy Edmondson

Anonymous Build Awareness Quantifiable

An activity to measure team safety

An anonymous exercise where people feel safe to participate without being

exposed.

An activity to build awareness, and make the

intangible dynamics of teamwork more tangible.

A quantitative measure to gauge feelings of safety

amongst the team members.

Safety Check

Safety CheckThe activity is is NOT

Forum for resolution

Determining activities and steps to identify and improve team safety should not be dealt with during a safety check.

Place to give and receive feedback

Time to identify existing issues

Judgment of the team or team members

5 Everything is discussable without filtering.

4 Almost everything is discussable without filtering.

3 Most things are discussable without filtering.

2 Almost nothing is discussable without filtering.

1 Nothing is discussable without filtering.

Safety Check - The Scale

Safety Check - Step 1• Inform the team what you are doing and why

• Remind them - this is an awareness exercise only. Nobody is obligated to make comments once the results are revealed

• Remind them - it is completely anonymously, only the facilitator sees the individual scores

• Request genuine and honest feedback/measurement

Safety Check - Step 2• Explain how it works

• Using a 1-5 scale, each team member will select a response to “How safe do you feel with the team?”

• Use playing cards (each member gets a deck of 1-5)

• Show/explain the scale and what is being measured (it helps to have it printed out, for the team to reference)

• Clarify: Filtering refers to modifying the original 'raw' thought, idea or message before saying it in front of any or all team members, or not saying anything at all

Safety Check - Step 3• Share Results

• Gather everyone’s card and (anonymously) compile the results (average of all votes)

• Share the safety number with the team

• Remind them that this is not the time or place to discuss (NOTE:over time, as the team gets more familiar with the activity, and comfortable with each other, some discussion may be natural)

• Document each safety check, so you can track over time

• Make notes regarding any changes (new team members, org changes, etc.)

Safety Check - FAQs• How often? Ideally every 2 weeks, or monthly

• Who facilitates? Team leader (manager), project manager, scrum master…

• Facilitator included? Depends, up to you

• What if a team member isn’t present? Proceed, and make a note.

Tips for improving safety• As the leader/facilitator, assess the results

• 4-5 - What is working (build awareness for yourself, in case this changes)

• 1-3 - What might be some challenges and issues

• Use 1:1 meetings w/team members to discuss (only if they feel comfortable doing so)

• Observe and change team dynamics

• Have team members share their working styles w/each other at the beginning of a new project/team pairing

• Change the physical space

• Assessment activities: strength finder, communication style, conflict management, learning style

Resources“Safety Check” blog post by Steven M. Smith (EMC) ~early 2012 http://stevenmsmith.com/ar-safety-check/

“Joshua Kerievsky on Anzen and Safety in Software”, 2013 https://www.infoq.com/interviews/anzen

The five keys to a successful Google team, Nov 2015 https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/

What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team, Feb 2016 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html

Why psychological safety matters and what to do about it, Sept 2016 https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/how-to-foster-psychological-safety/

“Why Safety first?”, Salah on Medium July 2016 https://medium.com/@selleithy/why-safety-first-3c6eb65e83d6#.f2c8f84rs