Speak Up, Accelerate Outcomes

Candor and Team Success

Conflict avoidance and a lack of Candor are the #1 inhibitors of team success. As much as we would like to think that every meeting is productive and effective, the reality is that many of them are not. We have all experienced meetings that are off-topic, unproductive,?with poor participation, or fail to address key issues that could impact the success of?a?critical initiative, immediate?project, or transformation effort. It certainly doesn’t help?that many of us remain silent, causing the meeting to lose the valuable input of its members.?

When these?behaviors happen in?meetings,?we deal with our frustrations in unproductive ways as well. We might send a text to a coworker, share our frustrations with a colleague at the coffee machine, or we just keep it to ourselves for fear of rocking the boat.?

The truth is that the only high-integrity answer is to speak up and say something in the meeting. Speaking up can help get the meeting back on track, remove barriers?to?collective success,?accelerate progress,?and prevent conflicts down the line. Unfortunately, many people don’t take proactive steps to drive their team’s collective success.

Why don’t they? It often comes down to how safe they feel to speak up at work. Candor may not be welcomed by their colleagues or their leaders, success isn’t seen as a collective endeavor, but rather an individual game, and people are more focused on getting their own work done rather than contributing to the team’s success.

This is where organizations can make a real difference. By focusing on the research-based pillars of what makes a HIT (High-Impact Team), organizations can accelerate and elevate their results. Let’s look at the pillar of Candor as a case study.

A lack of Candor in teams can have several negative impacts on their performance and productivity. When team members are not open and honest with each other, it can lead to misunderstandings, mistrust, and conflicts.?

Here are some examples of how a lack of Candor can manifest:

Poor Decision-Making

Without open and honest communication, team members may not share important information or perspectives that could influence decision-making. This can lead to suboptimal decisions that do not consider all the relevant factors

Missed Opportunities

A lack of Candor can prevent team members from sharing innovative ideas, constructive feedback, or valuable insights. This can result in missed opportunities to improve processes, products, or services.

Low Morale

When team members feel that they cannot express their opinions or concerns openly, it can create a toxic work environment. This can lead to low morale, decreased engagement, and high turnover rates.

Lack of Accountability??

A lack of Candor can also lead to a lack of accountability. When team members are not willing to hold each other accountable for their actions, it can lead to poor performance and missed deadlines.

Decreased Trust

Without open and honest communication, team members may start to doubt each other's intentions and abilities. This can erode trust and create a culture of suspicion and negativity.

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At the end of the day, Candor is essential to the success of any team. Without it, teams are failing to innovate, creating a toxic work environment, and?are?ultimately at a risk of underperforming. By prioritizing Candor, organizations can create an environment that fosters success, innovation, trust,?and joy.?I’d be delighted to partner with you to help you make a significant shift in your team’s behavior. Just reach out and we can co-create an effective solution that will meet your specific needs.

Rob is an International Behavior Change Specialist, Certified NLP Trainer, and Executive Coach. He has spent more than 20 years in consulting with the specific intent of helping clients deliver a return on investment from behavior change in the workplace. Rob’s passion is to help individuals, teams, and organizations reach their highest goals. Rob’s experience of igniting and driving to sustainable transformation in organizations across the world delivers practical advice that can drive to human behavior change in complex strategic, technology, and process environments in diverse sectors. A speaker, experience designer, and writer with a proven track record in driving complex customer-centric transformation in multiple industries, Rob is a strong, motivational leader who is able to connect people to ideas and inspire them to think critically and differently. He holds them accountable to take actions that will lead to new behaviors and 10X results.