How do I effectively debrief Team Survey results with leaders?

Debrief Team Survey results with confidence!

As a Team Survey debrief facilitator, we encourage you to create an experience where leaders feel a high level of psychological safety. Please note the importance of communicating and sharing Team Survey data in a safe and secure way. 

We recommend that you, the facilitator, meet with each leader individually for 45-60 minutes to debrief Team Survey results. After you debrief Team Survey results with the leader, we recommend that each leader meets with their team to discuss their Team Survey results openly.

You, the facilitator, are responsible to present Team Survey data in an objective and accurate way. Do not make conclusions, assumptions, or correlations that cannot be supported by Team Survey data. Let the data speak for itself. You have a unique opportunity to create an experience for the leader to sit with, internalize, and embrace their data set. The more time leaders spend with their data, the more value they will gain from their Team Survey experience.

Set the Stage

The following content outlines LeaderFactor's recommended approach for debriefing Team Survey results for leaders. Please consider the following best practices as you begin your Team Survey debrief: 

• Overview The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety framework and ensure that the leader has a basic understanding of the concept.
  • Psychological safety is a culture of rewarded vulnerability.
  • Access The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety framework here.
  • Learn more about psychological safety here.
• Overview The 4 Stages Team Survey instrument and survey method:
  • 11-point scale
  • Confidential
  • Intact team as unit of analysis
  • Manager exclusion
  • Quantitative and qualitative data
  • Net promoter score methodology

Learn more about the validity and reliability of the instrument here.

• Frame the Team Survey debrief experience as an act of vulnerability.
  • Responding to the Team Survey is an act of vulnerability.
  • Receiving Team Survey results is an act of vulnerability.
  • Interpreting Team Survey results is an act of vulnerability.
  • Be intentional about rewarding all acts of vulnerability. 

• Encourage the leader to approach their Team Survey results with empathy. Invite them to put themselves in respondents' shoes and see from their perspective. Remember, each response is valid and cannot be disputed or argued. 
• Invite the leader to resist the temptation to jump to solutions. Let the data speak and listen. The more time you spend understanding the data, the more value you will receive. Kindly discourage any comments or questions about improvement. That's a conversation for another time.
• Frame data in an impactful way. Translating Team Survey data in an impactful way will help the leader better internalize the data. 
  
  

Explain and define 4 Stages score, Blue Zone score, Neutral Zone score, Red Zone score: 

• A 4 Stages score indicates the overall level of psychological safety. The 4 Stages score is determined by its Blue Zone score less its Red Zone score. 
• A Blue Zone indicates a culture of rewarded vulnerability. This typically means that a respondent is experiencing and observing a consistent pattern in which acts of vulnerability are met with some kind of rewarded response. A blue zone is an empowering environment that builds confidence, courage, and self-efficacy. This score represents the percentage of respondents that selected a nine or ten. 
• A Neutral Zone response reflects neither a strong pattern of rewarded or punished vulnerability. Due to a mixed or inconsistent behavioral norm, it reflects uncertainty, hesitation, and a reluctance to engage in vulnerable behavior. A neutral zone is an environment of doubt. This score represents the percentage of respondents that selected a seven or eight.
• A Red Zone indicates a culture of punished vulnerability. This typically means that the respondent is experiencing and observing a consistent pattern in which acts of vulnerability are met with some kind of punishing response. A Red Zone is a diminishing environment that induces fear. This score represents the percentage of respondents that selected a six and below. 
  
  

Debriefing Results

After you've set the stage, open the Team Survey report with the leader, and begin walking through the report page by page. We recommend the following sequence as outlined in the Team Survey report: 

• Overview the team's 4 Stages Score, Blue Zone score, Neutral Zone score, Red Zone score, response rate, and percentile.
• Overview Stage 1: Inclusion Safety's score, Blue Zone score, Neutral Zone score, Red Zone score, and percentile.
  • Read each individual item associated with Inclusion Safety and discuss scores
  • Read each verbatim response and look for patterns 

• Overview Stage 2: Learner Safety's score, Blue Zone score, Neutral Zone score, Red Zone score, and percentile.
  • Read each individual item associated with Learner Safety and discuss scores
  • Read each verbatim response and look for patterns 

• Overview Stage 3: Contributor Safety's score, Blue Zone score, Neutral Zone score, Red Zone score, and percentile.
  • Read each individual item associated with Contributor Safety and discuss scores
  • Read each verbatim response and look for patterns 
• Overview Stage 4: Challenger Safety's score, Blue Zone score, Neutral Zone score, Red Zone score, and percentile.
  • Read each individual item associated with Challenger Safety and discuss scores
  • Read each verbatim response and look for patterns 

Encourage the leader to capture any insights along the way. Consider the following questions as you review each section of the report:  

• What patterns do you see?
• What surprises you?
• What are your team's strongest areas and why?
• What are your team's weakest areas and why?

Next Steps

Invite the leader to schedule a time with their team to review their 4 Stages Team Survey report. Encourage the leader to let the team explore and discuss the results openly. Ensure that your discussion reflects a high level of psychological safety. Remember, psychological safety is a "culture of rewarded vulnerability." It's important that you communicate your commitment to creating these conditions on your team.

Congratulations, you're fulfilling your role as cultural architect by approaching culture by design!