Clarity has a reciprocal relationship with Psychological Safety. Build one, you build the other. Damage one, damage the other. I facilitated a discussion between a team of six, where sadly they were directly experiencing the personal and business impacts of avoiding clarifying discussions. The team worked in a small open plan office. They relied on each other for information, and to ensure timely outcomes.
A minor issue had escalated to an investigation into bullying. Resulting tension was causing significant performance issues, both individually and across the whole business. Balls were being dropped, and financial penalties were being applied due to non- delivery. The business was not dealing well with the issue.
Two minor issues had escalated until they threatened work effectiveness, performance, health, and the company itself. The first was a personality clash exaggerated by the open plan office, sloppy personal conduct and mis-management. Two people spent large amounts of work time talking about their personal lives. Social conversations we all have over coffee, a meal or after work. Another colleague was attempting to join the conversation. The others excluded her. So far this is minor.
Over time she felt increasingly excluded and marginalised. She tried harder to join. The other two increasingly shunned her and eventually escalated their behaviour to the point that a bullying complaint was made which found their behaviour inappropriate. Repairing the fractured relationships to the point that they could work effectively together again would require significant commitment and effort from all parties.
The person who made the complaint was also underperforming. Her manager had not dealt with it and her performance had deteriorated over two years to the point of considering termination.
The manager could no longer deal with the performance issues, without them being seen as an extension of the bullying.
Simple solutions could have been found early. Like many in the face of conflict, the manager and others avoided the issue until it became largely unsalvageable.
The manager (and others) could have:
Addressed the issue of excessive social chat in the open plan office, especially when the conversations were not intended to be shared with everyone. Simply leaving these conversations for a morning coffee break or lunch would have made the issue disappear before it got traction.
Addressed the performance issues as soon as they were noticed – initially by asking if the person needed support or clarification of their role, and ultimately through formal performance management if needed.
Had a whole team conversation about expectations and behaviour in the open plan environment which would have enabled the team to set and monitor their own benchmarks for healthy ways of working together and getting the job done, as in the next case study.
They would have built Psychological Safety and Clarity!