How do you create a safe space to learn from diverse experiences?

1 Define your purpose

Before you start any learning activity, whether it's a training session, a workshop, a meeting, or a conversation, make sure you have a clear and shared purpose. Why are you learning? What are you learning? How will you use what you learn? Having a common goal and vision can help you align your expectations and outcomes, and create a sense of relevance and motivation. It can also help you avoid confusion, misunderstanding, or conflict that might arise from different assumptions or agendas.

2 Establish ground rules

To create a safe space, you need to set some ground rules that everyone agrees to follow. These are the norms and values that guide your interactions and behaviors, and that create a sense of trust and respect. Some examples of ground rules are: listen actively and attentively, speak from your own experience, avoid interrupting or dominating, be open and curious, respect different opinions and perspectives, give and receive constructive feedback, and acknowledge and address any issues or concerns. You can also ask your team to suggest or vote on the ground rules that they think are important.

3 Encourage participation and engagement

A safe space is not only a place where people can speak freely, but also where they can listen and learn from each other. As an executive manager, you can facilitate this by encouraging participation and engagement from everyone. You can do this by asking open-ended questions, inviting input and feedback, acknowledging and appreciating contributions, providing opportunities for collaboration and peer learning, and using interactive and diverse methods and formats. You can also model the behaviors and attitudes that you want to see in your team, such as being curious, humble, respectful, and supportive.

4 Address challenges and barriers

Creating a safe space to learn from diverse experiences is not always easy or comfortable. You might encounter some challenges and barriers along the way, such as resistance, conflict, misunderstanding, or fear. As an executive manager, you need to be prepared to address these issues and help your team overcome them. You can do this by creating a feedback loop, where you regularly check in with your team, ask for their opinions and suggestions, and act on their feedback. You can also provide support and resources, such as coaching, mentoring, or counseling, to help your team cope with any difficulties or emotions that might arise from learning from diverse experiences.

5 Celebrate and apply learning

Finally, creating a safe space to learn from diverse experiences is not only about the process, but also about the results. You want to make sure that your team can see the benefits and value of their learning, and that they can apply what they learned to their work and goals. You can do this by celebrating and recognizing their achievements, such as giving praise, rewards, or recognition, or sharing their success stories with others. You can also help them transfer and apply their learning, such as by providing opportunities for practice, reflection, or action, or by connecting their learning to their performance or development plans.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?