How to improve team effectiveness with one simple change
Start with psychological safety in your meetings
When Flight 232 crashed, killing 112 passengers, it was considered the most impressive landing in the history of aviation.
But, the story of the “Impossible Landing” started 11 years earlier…
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Flight 173 had an experienced 3 member team in the flightdeck.
In those days, experience meant seniority…
And, seniority meant you had the loudest voice.
When the landing gear light failed to light up, the captain immediately took up the role of resolving the issue…
For the next 1 hour…
But… focused as he was with the landing gear, he failed to monitor that the plane was getting seriously low on fuel…
More importantly, the team culture meant that the other two members of the team, failed to successfully communicate their concern to the captain…
So… when the engines shut off… the plane crashed…
Just 7 miles from the airport…
10 passengers and crew were killed in the crash.
As soon as the problem started, it was the captain making the decisions, with little consideration for the input from the other crewmembers…
They were never trained to work another way.
From this disaster, arose the need for comprehensive crew training and need to change the culture in the flightdeck.
The problem was obvious… and recurring…
When faced with malfunction of aircraft systems… there is a breakdown in flightdeck management and teamwork.
Crew Resource Management
The solution was a system that uses resources to promote safety within the workplace.
It was no longer enough to have technical skills alone.
The system focused on interpersonal skills regarding communication and behavioral activities associated with teamwork.
This new system was widely adopted by the airline industry.
The emphasis was now on teamwork including:
captains need to include their crew when making decisions, ensuring their participation; and…
flightdeck crewmembers need to act more assertively when communicating their concerns…
The Impossible Landing
So, a few years later, when the tail engine of Flight 232 blew up, the captain and flightdeck crew faced a complicated scenario…
Without even one minute of practice for failures under those conditions.
What helped, was a new way of working…
… so why would I know more about getting that airplane on the ground under those conditions than the other three… if we had not let everybody put their input in, we wouldn’t have made it - Captain Al Haynes (Flight 232)
The transcripts of the crews conversation shows a collaborative environment in the flightdeck…
The captain providing clarity of strategy and tactics…
But… the other crewmembers were able to challenge the captain’s assumptions and provide alternatives which were both welcomed and accepted by the captain…
When it came to life and death… the team showed exemplary ability to communicate with clarity and make decisions together.
Psychological Safety
There is a lot we can learn from this story about working as teams.
Psychological safety is a condition in which you feel included, safe to learn, safe to contribute, and, safe to challenge the status quo - all without fear of being marginalized, embarrassed , or punished in some way.
Timothy R. Clark - The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety
Feeling safe with your team members, managers, stakeholders and the work environment is the corner stone for effective teams…
If we don’t feel safe, we will never be able to improve.
How to start with psychological safety
Try this in your next team meeting:
When everyone’s assembled, ask them to anonymously rate their personal safety level on a scale of 1 to 3…
1 = I don’t feel safe sharing my opinion or asking questions, so I will sit quietly in this meeting.
2 = I feel ok asking some questions, sharing some opinions, but in other matters I will hold my tongue.
3 = I feel very safe sharing my opinions, raising concerns and challenging assumptions.
Find the average rating for the participants in your meeting.
If the average is below 2.5, cancel the meeting agenda. Use the meeting to facilitate conversation about what it means for individuals to feel safe, respecting others, having strong opinions that are loosely held, and using data in decision making.
You’ll be surprised what you learn…
A Special For Subscribers
Few days earlier, I wrote about the pain of estimating and how I learned to resolve them for my teams.
Some of you reached out to ask for more details and how to implement this system in your teams.
I’ve setup some templates and one on one time in my calendar.
It’s Free… and limited to only 5 subscribers.
