Want your team to speak up in dire situations? Research says it's all about the leadership.

Dr. Taylor pictured with a mannequin (Source: London Health Sciences Centre)

A research team at London Health Sciences Centre is working to break down barriers between leaders and their teams.

Led by Dr. Taryn Taylor, an obstetrician and gynecologist, recent efforts have concentrated on enabling team members to speak up to speak up when a leader is doing something incorrectly or that could be done better. This is especially important in healthcare, where such choices could make all the difference in the outcome.

Historically, such efforts have largely concentrated on teaching all team members to be brave and speak up, however this group took a different approach – making leaders easier to talk to.

“What our research team has shown is that we need to start shifting our focus to the team leader and their role on the team in creating an environment in which speaking up is not an act of bravery, but a shared expectation of the team,” said Taylor.

With that focus in mind, Taylor noted that approachability is about more than just the moments when you’re working, “you’re not just showing up for the pages and acute events; you’re there for those in-between moments to build camaraderie with the team. Approachability is also about having moments of vulnerability as a leader, and this means sharing your thought process in the moment and making time to debrief after challenging situations,”

The findings of the team have been published in Advances in Simulation, and has received international acclaim.