Chakshu Arora | Food for thought, Beyond the NOISE.

Let’s admit whatever industry, domain or business unit you are working in, there are always elephant(s) in the room. There are elephants in personal domain as well. We hardly speak or encourage our teams to talk about them openly.

From my limited experience Magic happens when we start talking about these elephants in the room. That’s when we start working and thinking outside the box. We get the best out of people, for them and for the organizations. Ignoring these issues can lead to toxic work places, decreased morale etc.

So, why do we avoid talking about them? What we as leaders can do about this and how to tame these elephants or rather ride them for success.

Why don’t we talk about Elephant(s)

1. Comfort zone: Many people are too comfy in their comfort zone that they don’t want to come out of it. They avoid tough conversations and challenge the status quo.
   
2. Fear of talking about burning issues: Many employees at work fear that speaking about them will lead to negative repercussions. That they might be labeled as trouble makers.
   
3. Cultural Norms: I have had the chance to work at different cultures across multiple geographies. At many places there is this unsaid rule to keep the harmony and not rock the boat. Even if the boat is on way to sink.
   
4. Not diplomatic enough: There are many people who have great ideas but are always silent or introvert. They lack skills on how to bring the issue upto table diplomatically and how to talk about elephants. In short lacking skills to handle difficult conversations.

The repercussions of not talking about them.

Ignoring the elephants in the room can have several negative consequences like:

1. Low Morale: When people see their issues are not addressed, they feel neglected. There is a pile up of elephants in the room. It leads to frustration and low morale. Death by stampede.
   
2. Reduced trust and unsafe work environments: Unresolved issues can create tension in the workplace. This environment fosters distrust among colleagues. There are respect issues. This can hinder cross collaboration and productivity. No innovation and lead to delayed value from the different ongoing critical projects.
   
3. High Attrition rate: People are most to leave the toxic workplace in search of greener pastures. This often results in the 20% top contributors leaving organization. ( leaving remaining 80% people). I am a big fan of the Pareto principle. With 80% low performing resources left, it turns into a downward spiral effect.

How to tame the Elephant(s)

Now let’s talk about how you, as a business leader or individual contributor, can tackle the elephant(s) in the room. This creates a win-win situation for both yourself and organizations.

1. Lead by example: You can always lead by example. By being the first one to ask the difficult and frowned upon but relevant questions. you can break the silence and encourage others to follow you.

Be the change you want to see in others – Mahatma Gandhi.

2. Create a Safe Environment: You can create a safe environment by providing anonymous feedback systems. Implement regular check-ins and a clear reward policy for people who bring up difficult conversations. Encourage open communication by creating a safe space where employees feel comfortable sharing their concerns without fear of repercussions.

3. Act on the feedback. Show your teams that feedback is taken seriously. Take quick action on the issues. This is the easiest and best way to win trust. a low hanging fruit.

4. Transparent and honest work culture: This is essential 101. Creating a culture of transparency and honesty is vital. Avoid diplomatic conversations. Keep people in the loop about decisions affecting them. This approach goes a long way.

From my professional life experiences, I’ve encountered multiple elephants both as Individual contributor and leadership roles. With transparency we managed to bring them on the table and successfully tame them.

Some of elephants we tamed were, unresolved conflicts within team members, We handled that big technical debt(s). There were workload imbalances—some employees had too much workload compared to others. We tackled mental health issues resulting healthier thriving teams.

In Conclusion, there are many advantages of talking and taming the elephant in the room. It is not be easy at first but is must have for creating a healthy and productive work environment. By providing a platform for open communication, tools and training, & leading by e.g. we can tame/ride these elephants.

P.S – On a funnier note, in some of the organizations I worked, there are many discussions about slicing the Elephant in the room:(. I personally love elephants as animal and never understood why to slice such a cute mammal.

So, what are the different elephant(s) in your professional or personal lives? Do share your stories and thoughts on how you tamed them?

//Love,
CA
#f