I felt a wave of worry when I found out from a teacher that this glitch popped up just a week before report cards were due. The whole idea of the new system was supposed to help teachers manage their time better, but it really dropped the ball on letting them add detailed comments. Now, we’re scrambling to figure out how to help with grading!
“I have some bad news.”
Let’s be honest—we dread hearing that sentence. We don’t want to hear the tough things, yet we most often need to hear and support that message if we want more good things to happen. This example of ordinary school life is just one of many problems we must know to lead our teams effectively. If teachers feel unsafe sharing bad news, it can adversely affect your building.
As the leader, your reaction to negative news can significantly impact your staff’s ability to achieve outcomes. Your response is crucial in determining how comfortable your staff feels in reporting issues and whether they believe you will provide the necessary support. When your team feels psychologically safe, there is healthy give-and-take, with all members assuming accountability. Good news or bad news, they know you support their ideas and concerns.
“The essence of leadership is not getting overwhelmed by circumstances."
- Kim Scott, Radical Candor
Are you fostering an environment where problems are opportunities for growth and collaboration, or do staff fear negative consequences for sharing issues? It starts with you and how you respond and also requires the right conditions for staff to speak up.
One aspect of psychological safety is influence safety, which means everyone feels safe expressing their point of view even when it conflicts with others. For example, if you respond to a teacher with frustration, they will most likely not bring up other concerns. You can bet your team notices when your words or nonverbals have shut down a peer.
When staff feel they have influence, they know it’s okay to offer different perspectives, questions or ideas. That looks like asking for help, sharing problems and offering new solutions. Influence means we can learn from each other.
How do you set conditions for your staff to feel empowered to share problems and collaborate on solutions?
Encourage a constructive discussion on a specific topic in an upcoming staff meeting.
1. Identify your goal. Is it collecting staff feedback or exploring ideas to improve instructional approaches or student achievement? Plan your agenda for that goal.
2. Prepare with prompts to kick off the conversation and actively listen.
3. Scaffold for safety by putting structures in place to collect everyone’s ideas first individually with think and write. Next, share responses in small groups and then identify three sticky notes to post on the wall for collective staff discussion.
4. Acknowledge their input and thank them. You don’t have to commit just yet.
“For knowledge work to flourish, the workplace must be one where people can share their knowledge! This means sharing concerns, questions, mistakes, and half-formed ideas."
- Dr. Amy C. Edmondson