Psychologically Safe Culture When a Team Member Leaves
Helping the team that remains when people leave
Two weeks ago, I wrote about how to bring a new team member into a team in a way that supports a psychologically safe culture. This week, I am going to look at how to use someone’s departure as stimulus for increasing psychological safety on a team.
Losing a team member, even an underperforming or toxic team member, is unsettling and disruptive. The team’s work load will have to shift, dynamics and interpersonal relationships within the team will change, and questions about whether this is still the place people want to be working bubble into consciousness.
The old team is gone. A new one has to take its place. The question for leaders and remaining team members is whether to be intentional about creating the new team or not.
A good post-offboarding meeting honours the change and allows the team to process the collective shift.
One of the teams I worked with recently called their onboarding and offboarding team culture meetings Who Are WE Now? and I am going to use that name here.
Who Are WE Now? The Offboarding Variety
A Who Are WE Now? meeting after the departure of a team member has two components:
Acknowledge the impact the other person had on the team
Review working agreements
Acknowledge the impact the other person has on the team
When someone leaves a team, most people focus first on the losses. How will the work they were doing get done? Who will I talk to when I need the help they gave? What will happen to the professional friendship we had?
At the same time, because every person fills a role differently than any other person would have filled that role, new possibilities emerge with every change.
It is useful for the team to honour both the loss and the new possibilities.
To acknowledge the departing team member, ask:
What will you miss about having this person on the team?
What do you want to keep from their impact on the team? How might you do that?
What opportunities exist now because they left?
Review working agreements
Interpersonal dynamics on a team shift with each staffing change. There may have been things that helped the previous group of individuals work at their best that no longer serve the team or new things that would help the current team deal with the impact of the departure. Working agreements should shift to reflect these changes.
It is good practice to review how the team has been doing with the previous agreements before revising them.
Ask:
Are we fulfilling these agreements?
If not, what could we do to improve?
Are these still the agreements we want to have with each other? Should we make any changes?
Is it a Waste of Time if We Don’t Change our Agreements?
No.
These meetings create a shared understanding that the team is open to changes when they become useful. That understanding makes it less risky for people to learn and grow.
When a Difficult Person Leaves
Grief occurs even during good change. And no person is 100% a problem. The cleanest way to deal with this is to maintain the same practices no matter who leaves.
Dealing With Empty Roles on a Team
If the person is being replaced but the new person has not been hired yet, there could be a lengthy interim period. The uncertainty of this interim period will consume unconscious energy from team members. To reduce disruption, have a Who Are WE Now? meeting both when the old team member leaves and when the new person joins.
If the incoming person will start soon, it can be valuable to have one meeting that covers both recognizing the contribution of the previous team member and welcoming the new team member. A meeting like this conveys a powerful message to the new person, “We know you are not the same as person who leftbvand we do not expect you to fill their shoes. We know you are unique and will bring something different to the role because you are you.”
When There is Rapid Change
If your team has a string of resignations in short succession or is hiring people quickly, you will have to make a judgment call about how often to schedule Who Are WE Now? meetings. One meeting per departure or joining team member may be too frequent. You may be better off having a meeting every month or six weeks.