Creating a Safe Container - some suggestions
Tess Cope ??
?? Helping Leaders & Exec Teams Level Up - On a mission to help you positively impact the working lives of your people because - Great People & Healthy Systems = Exceptional Results!!
When you're an internal facilitator working on a change agenda, building a safe container within your sessions is even more essential!
Having been an internal 'change agent' myself for the biggest part of my career, I'm dedicated to developing internal capability around systemic & sustainable change.
Here's some suggestions for building a safe container when you are working with groups with a systemic perspective in mind:
?Ensure you are aware of who has been in the business/team the longest & ensure their perspective is included - make space for them - they are part of the history that needs to be acknowledged in any sustainable change journey
?If you can, speak to each participant in advance - ascertain where they are at in regard to the Change Agenda & ascertain who might feel exposed/vulnerable - ensure you build the safe container with them in mind (without publicly acknowledging their vulnerability in the group)
? Ensure everyone understands a. The overall purpose of the Change (why) b. How the purpose of your forthcoming session relates to this and c. How they can contribute to the session - bear in mind, some of your participants will need some reflection time in advance
?Agree how confidentiality will be handled - be transparent and upfront; if information needs to be shared/cascaded - be clear about what will be shared & how this will happen
? Create space for the history to be fully acknowledged before moving ahead to create the new - this will enable participants to harvest learnings and insights that can be brought forward AS WELL AS identifying that which needs to be respectfully left behind
? Look beyond any resistance you pick up at an individual level and ask yourself - What is the root cause of this resistance? What function does this resistance have? What is it trying to tell us? On whose behalf/On behalf of how many, is this resistance surfacing?
If you facilitate change within your organisation, what tips do you have? Please share in the comments below