Dare to disagree creates Innovative Employee Engagement - Ian Watts

I recently watched a great TED talk from Margaret Heffernan called “Dare to disagree”, & yes I am a massive TED convert.   This TED talk got me thinking and prompted me to implement an exercise in my team that had the potential to shift people to step outside comfort zones, break down barriers and keep the team focused on our vision.  In Margaret Heffernan’s talk, she highlights that most people will instinctively avoid conflict which promotes avoidance and passive agreement, rather than incorporating good disagreement within our relationships, businesses & organisations, that will ultimately foster creativity and innovation.

So the question that I asked my team to research and then debate in a team meeting was this:

•       Successful Employee Engagement across the organisation is a direct result of HR involvement in the business

Fairly straight forward question right?  While many would already have an opinion on what the answer to this would be, this question ended up creating great discussion as two employees battled out (slightly exaggerated) their different affirming & opposing views. 

What was really interesting in this exercise was to see how the team embraced this concept with vigour and how the discussion at the end of this process allowed the team to think outside our preconceived ideas of what Employee Engagement is and how both Leaders and HR can collectively shape employee engagement within businesses.  This exercise allowed the team to have their very best thinking on Employee engagement; it was innovative and allowed people to use their talents.

So to my surprise, the result was greater than I had anticipated.  While I primarily implemented this exercise as a way to get the team thinking outside the box so that we deliver the best initiatives possible, the best outcome for me was to see how a simple exercise that created so much fun, ended up creating employee engagement within my own team.  

I thoroughly recommend implementing this exercise in your team.  When you do, ensure you go into these discussions without your own preconceived ideas and you will be amazed at the innovation with your business and how engaged your employees will be.

Watts Ahead