Removing Pebbles
Removing Pebbles
A few years ago, Cath, or Director of Culture and Leadership, published a paper on embedding psychological safety in virtual teams. There’s loads in there to talk about, but let’s explore the concept of removing pebbles…
Sometimes improving happiness at work means removing a pebble, not moving a mountain.
A pebble is a small thing. Insignificant in the grand scale of the universe. Extremely significant when it’s in your shoe.
Sometimes a pebble is obvious – take your boot off, it’s right there. Sometimes you have to have a good rummage around, shake your sock a few times to find it. There might be more than one. What might they look like?
At work, these kinds of things all have pebble potential:
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Having to ask permission for tiny decisions.
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Meetings that could have been emails.
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Tech that makes simple tasks complicated.
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Not being able to find the thing you need to do your job.
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Being interrupted so you never find your flow.
Instead of always asking:
“What more can we give people to make them happy at work?”
consider:
“What’s getting in the way of people enjoying their work?”
Make pebble-removing a team habit
The key thing is: you have to include the people with the pebbles in their shoes. They know where those little stone are lurking; they are the ones feeling the discomfort most keenly.
“What’s one small thing we could change that would make your working day better?”
Ask. Listen. Choose something you can actually change. Change it.
These small adjustments might improve productivity, but the real magic is making employees feel seen, heard and valued. When people can see that their voice makes a difference, removing pebbles can feel like moving mountains.
#TeamBoo
(helping bosses remove pebbles since 2012.)
Read Cath’s 3 year Boo anniversary blog.
Or skip straight to her paper.
