Building a Speak Up Culture: The Danger of Team Silence & How to Combat It

Listen to your team for a moment …. do you hear robust debate?

Do you see people having open conversations about challenging topics??

Is there a healthy flow of ideas and builds on how ways of working can be improved??

Or are your people holding back from having difficult conversations??

Are they hesitating to offer honest feedback??

During times of change and challenge, we often put on a brave face.? Many of us were conditioned to believe that if we have nothing positive to say, then we should not speak up. Some of us have experienced disapproval, judgment, or even shaming, for speaking up – so we’ve learned to stay silent.??

Silence is one of the 5 Red Flags we see in team behaviour and has been present (in different guises) in all of the teams we’ve worked across dozens of culture change programmes.? These 5 Red Flags sabotage big company culture. They kill energy, engagement, collaboration, innovation and pace. ?

Silence in the workplace is never ‘golden’.         

It’s a toxic behaviour that stifles innovation, creates negative ‘back channels’ and stops all of us from realising potential.? BUT – we can offer hope.? It doesn’t need to be this way.? We have a firm conviction, backed by evidence, that even if you find that all the red flags apply to your team/s, you CAN make positive changes. It doesn’t have to be this way.?

If you would like to find out more about the rest of the red flags, then click here to download our full, free guide. ?

Silence is a very common problem on teams but it’s also one that can be tackled. Read on for practical advice on how you can combat silence and build a culture of speaking up. ?

How does the problem of Silence show up??

When no one speaks up in Town Hall meetings, the problem is obvious. However, silence can also be more discreet.? For example, when challenging topics are addressed via email, rather than face-to-face.? Similarly, when people hold back instead of flagging concerns, so views are whispered privately rather than openly debated. Individual contributors may become ‘keyboard warriors’ submitting anonymous questions or angry comments in engagement surveys, rather than raising concerns with their line manager.??

Another symptom of silence is when people don’t say no or ask for help, and then become stressed or overcommitted (which brings us back to the mother of all of these Red Flags – overwhelm).? ?

For leaders, silence can mean avoiding tough conversations about performance. See our Powerful Feedback Guide for more on this.?

Other indicators that you may have a problem with silence include;?

• Cameras turned off in online meetings?

• Challenging questions or criticism only being voiced anonymously?

• A lack of proactive innovation.?

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If this sounds familiar, take heart because we’ve learned that silence is present even around fantastic leaders. Sometimes, previous leaders have left a long shadow of fear. And occasionally silence is part of the baggage that people bring from previous workplaces. To quote HBR: “If your employees aren’t speaking up, blame company culture.” It takes time to build trusting, open cultures. It also takes a lot of self-awareness and determination.?

Over the last 3 years we’ve worked with more than 500 leaders, diagnosing, and tackling the challenges in culture that hold businesses and individuals back from success.? Through more than 3,000 hours of confidential conversations with leaders, we’ve uncovered the 5 Red Flags that stop individuals and teams achieving success and realising potential.??

Silence is one of these Red Flags.

Silence puts a stranglehold on progress, keeping individuals and teams acting small and achieving less. ?

If you’d like to know how to identify and address the problem of silence, and how to encourage speaking up, accountability, and collective achievement, this article is for you. We explore where this behaviour comes from, so we can let go of judgment and how we can help people break out of unhelpful patterns and move forward together, achieving so much more.??

How Silence Can Hurt Your Company?

Failing to speak up at work can have dire consequences.         

This was underscored by the Boeing story, where a culture of silence contributed to catastrophic failures.? Analysis of what went wrong after the crashes of the 737 Max aircraft revealed that many employees were aware of critical safety issues but felt unable to voice their concerns.??

The environment of poor and incomplete communication allowed defects to go unaddressed, ultimately leading to the loss of 346 lives in two separate accidents.??

Further evidence of the safety risks of team silence comes from HBR published research, which revealed that 90% of nurses don't voice concerns to physicians even when patient safety is jeopardised.???

But it’s not just leaders at workplaces where life and death is at stake who need to be paying attention to the problems of silence.? The same HBR study found that employees in a wide range of office roles also see lack of speaking up as problematic: 93% of people say that their organisation 'is at risk of an accident waiting to happen' because of peoples unwillingness to speak up.?

The data indicates – and we see this in our work – that silence jeopardises productivity, performance, and team engagement:? Instead of addressing issues directly, individuals often resort to counterproductive behaviours like complaining (78%) or doing unnecessary work (66%). The cost of silence can be substantial, estimated by the authors of the HBR study at over ￡6000 per instance with 20% of respondents citing costs exceeding ￡40,000.??

Encouraging open dialogue and creating a safe space for employees to express concerns without fear of retribution is essential for identifying and rectifying potential problems early.?

How to Combat Silence and Encourage Speaking Up?

1. Drop the Judgement and Impatience?

Let’s acknowledge that it can be frustrating for senior leaders when people don’t speak up.???

Especially when you’ve always made the effort to encourage the right environment for open debate.?? But we must avoid falling into the trap of demonising and judging, because this exacerbates the problem. People generally have good intentions and it doesn’t help to create defensiveness.? Silence is often the result of historical periods of crisis management and control.???

Be curious about the real constraints and blockers for your team. In highly regulated environments, for example, hierarchies and process obedience are often baked into compliance – and this can work against speaking up.???

Be patient.? If we want people to find courage to speak up, w have to build trust.? It takes time and constantly repeated reassurance for people to believe that it really is OK to speak up. Expect that. Don’t get critical when it doesn’t happen overnight. Stay the course, expect to be on repeat for at least twelve months. Be consistent.?

2. Listen First?

We don’t open up to people we don’t trust. To build trust, we must listen.        

How often do we speak up or share our thoughts in an environment where we don’t feel comfortable?? For me, it’s almost never. And I’m not alone.? We don’t feel comfortable expressing ourselves when we lack confidence in the people around us. In other words, trust is a prerequisite to a culture of openness.?

So, we must foster trust to encourage speaking up and sharing ideas effectively.?? Everyone needs to feel safe and valued to voice thoughts. Crucially, those who are encouraged to speak up must believe their input is genuinely valued and respected. Trust is built over time and enhanced through shared experiences that test and reinforce the foundations of a relationship.?

There may not be a shortcut to building trust, but one key aspect of fostering trust in any relationship is our capacity to listen, really listen, to everyone.?

3. Be Intentional

Create awareness?of what good speaking up culture looks like, and the changes needed. Talk with your people about that change and what it means for them. To foster an environment where team members feel encouraged to speak up, we need to be clear about the importance of their voices. Clearly communicate that their ideas, feedback, and concerns are valued and crucial for the team's success. When we make this message explicit and transparent, it removes ambiguity and reinforces that their contributions matter.??

Have?clear expectations?that are frequently discussed. Ensure your?messaging is as clear as it can be and reinforced by?consistent comms. Talk about where you personally are making mistakes in this area too - and seek feedback and challenge from everyone around you to help you stay aware. As leaders we must continuously examine our own practice – its normal to default to old habits under pressure.?

Identify the?benefits of speaking up culture to your people?and talk about them often. How will the new behaviours create a more positive experience, for them and for the whole team? How will it make their lives easier? What new skills will they learn?? Encourage leaders to be having these WIIFM (whats in it for me?) conversations at the individual level. ?

Avoid jargon and?check understanding. Your middle leaders, especially those with a highly technical focus, may not have time for extensive leadership reading and they may have no idea what you mean by speaking up culture – (nor ‘growth culture mindset’ ‘empowerment’ or ‘psychological safety’!).?

4. Be a Consistent Role Model

It’s not enough to just invite your team to speak up; you also need to create a culture that supports openness around emotions.

Think about how you want your team members to feel when they share their thoughts. Do you want them to feel respected, safe, and valued? By setting an intention around these feelings, you can choose your words and actions carefully to create a supportive environment.? This will also help you to prepare for the bumpy moments, when someone speaks up in a clumsy or blunt way and unintentionally hurts feelings. This is a common part of the process of building a speaking up culture: When people first find the courage to speak up, they are often inexperienced in the art of doing so positively.? Early challenges can land painfully in the ears of the leadership team and feel like personal criticism.? How we respond in those moments is vital, so if you know you’re someone who can take things personally, give yourself some advanced support.?

To build a speaking-up culture, role modelling is critical. How does skilful questioning and challenge look and sound to you?? As leaders we must be aware of our own impact when we speak up and challenge.?

We must ask ourselves:??

What am I doing that my people will be observing and learning from??

How frequently am I asking for feedback on these things myself??

It only takes the slightest blip to undermine trust.? One moment of impatience or irritation can take us back months in trust-building terms.? We are ALL human, and we all get it wrong sometimes. So smart leaders know they need to cultivate self-awareness, and own their mistakes.?

5. Offer Tailored Support, Challenge, and Skills Development

Offer?tailored and personalised support, challenge and skills development?for everyone you want to speak up more.? Team leaders are especially important.? This development is best offered one to one, so that every person can be met where they are.? This is vitally important, not just because team leaders in large companies are a notoriously diverse population, but also because we all have different beliefs, expectations and potential.???

Talk to us before you rule this out based on assumptions about cost – we focus on making one to one leadership coaching affordable and scalable.?

There are huge benefits to externally provided coaching - but make sure your supplier has a deep understanding of the culture change you are driving. It's also critical that the coaches are set up to blend coaching with direction where needed, so that they can bust myths, impart knowledge, and challenge assumptions.?

About Nkuzi Change and our Five Red Flags Model?

At Nkuzi Change, we help teams tackle the common cultural challenges that get in the way of success.? We’ve identified the 5 most damaging culture problems that keep cropping up across the teams we’ve worked with. We call them the Five Red Flags:???

1. Overwhelm??
2. Low Ownership??
3. Silos??
4. Inertia, and???
5. Silence??

These issues often arise as a natural response to complexity in a large organisation.? They’re unhelpful and drain the joy out of work.??

If you recognise any of these issues in your team, the good news is that you’re not alone—and change is possible.??

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Taking Action?

We have the evidence to show, with the right intervention you can achieve behaviour change in a matter of months, even in the most entrenched teams.???

Even if your team is facing all these red flags, positive change is possible. There’s a lot that leaders and organisations can do to foster a positive team culture and engagement.??

Addressing the red flags prevents teams from stagnating, unlocks their potential, and makes work more fulfilling. Moreover, it directly impacts business outcomes: a positive team culture significantly enhances performance, as our clients have seen through measurable improvements in employee engagement, system adoption, and broader business results.??

We offer short and effective Culture Sprints, and larger, customised Change Maker programmes.? We achieve a real shift in behaviour, in a way people enjoy, supporting them to break free from old habits and limiting beliefs and step into their full potential.??We help people and teams to take ownership for their individual and collective success. Most importantly, we help them to find the courage and build confidence to move forward together.???

Take a look at the data on the impact of our programmes on the 5 Red Flags:?

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Our free resources offer hands-on, practical advice that goes beyond theory. Whether you’re a junior team leader or a senior executive, there are actionable steps you can take to create a more engaged and high-performing team.??

We encourage you to:?

• Explore Our free Red Flags Guide which offers practical advice to help you overcome these challenges and unlock the full potential of your team.?

• If you want to find out more about Culture Sprints then check out our website dedicated to Culture Sprints featuring a video from one of our co-founders Elise Finn .?

• Reach out to Kate Franklin on LinkedIn to find the best solution for you and your team.??

Positive change is possible—let’s unlock your team’s full potential together.??

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About the Authors???

Nkuzi Change is led by three founders, Martin, Elise and Kate, based in UK & Europe. Elise is former CMO at Thomson Reuters where she led several major transformation programmes. Martin has led a number of turnarounds, building and re-shaping and businesses in the technology and service sectors. Kate has been coaching executives since 2005, partnering with hundreds of leaders in some of the world’s most respected organisations.???

?Between us, we have:??

• Over 60 years’ experience of leadership in big companies – having worked within 30+ respected global companies.???

• Over 15 years operating at C-suite level in global FTSE 500 companies, driving commercial success and transformational change.???

• Expertise in transformational change, leadership development, behaviour change and in technology and systems.???

• Over the past 3 years we’ve studied leadership and culture up close.? We’ve run over 20 scaled Leadership Programmes with 7 different, large, global B2B businesses.? We’ve worked with more than 600 Leaders in those businesses. We’ve spent 3000+ hours in confidential conversations with these leaders on how to lead successful change.???

Since we founded in 2020, we’ve partnered with 500+ leaders, helping them shape positive, lasting changes in their team cultures and engagement. We’ve guided them to unlock their full potential and achieve great success, while also identifying recurring challenges that commonly hold teams back.???

Through over 3,000 hours of confidential conversations, we've fine-tuned our approach—linking culture shifts directly to tangible business performance outcomes, including improved employee engagement, lasting culture change, and better overall results.??

Are you curious to dig deeper??

Recommended resources for you to explore:?

• Video - Kim Scott talking about her Radical Candour model ??

• HBR article – 9 practices on how to say no ??

• Speak Up Article by Reitz and Higgins – our favourite thought leaders on this topic. ??

• Nkuzi Change Guide - Just Say It ??

• Nkuzi Change Guide - How to Have Confident Conversations ??

• Squiggly Careers podcast on How to have courageous conversations ??

• Nkuzi Change Powerful Feedback Guide ?

• HBR article – How A Culture of Silence Eats Away At Your Company ?

• HBR article – Is Silence Killing Your Company? ?

• FT article - The perils of speaking up at work too often deter staff from voicing concerns (Boeing) ?