How to help people feel connected and part of a team: Strategy #2.1 – Open up decision-making and information in the team.
We have previously published a series of practical leadership actions around the themes of people feeling supported, valued and safe; creating a ‘team environment’; supporting learning and growth; empowering staff and building autonomy; ensuring clarity of roles and expectations; and creating meaning and purpose.

We are now going to explore the actionable steps that you can take to enable the suggested strategies and actions. This is one in a series of 31 posts providing specific descriptions of the actions in practice.

So, this post focuses on the theme of helping people feel connected and part of a team. In a previous post we have talked through 5 overarching strategies to support people feeling connected and part of a team:
2.1 Open up decision-making and information in the team
2.2 Create opportunities for team members to work on projects and problems together
2.3 Work on the ‘team’ to build a sense of ‘we’
2.4 Proactively manage conflict within the team
2.5 Cultivate personal connectedness within the team
In this post we take a deep dive into the specific strategy of:
2.1 Open up decision-making and information in the team.
Creating space and opportunities for team members to actively participate in decision-making, including contributing thoughts, ideas and feedback, promotes shared ownership and commitment to directions and changes.
So, here are some of the actions that can be taken to put this leadership strategy into practice:
- Create opportunities for team members to be involved in discussions and decisions about matters that are important to the team and the work the team is doing. Leaders can utilise a range of forums and situations to facilitate conversations that allow people to hear and explore multiple perspectives from their colleagues as part of the decision-making process. This could include determining priorities, managing workloads, decisions on ‘how we want to work’ together, organisation structures, project planning etc. Importantly it helps people more deeply understand the ‘why’ of decisions and own those decisions, while developing deep and respectful relationships with their colleagues.
- Be the second person to speak when in the room – create the space for others to contribute their thoughts and ideas. In most hierarchical organisations, there is an underlying power dynamic in the room. No matter how ‘psychologically safe’ a work environment you believe you are creating, people may be loath to speak up and provide a counterview to the most senior person in the room. So, let others speak first! You will need to consider how people can best contribute – introverts or more junior staff may not be as comfortable speaking publicly or in large groups. You will also need to be explicit about your role. In some situations, you may want to build consensus in which case you will need to act as a facilitator. In other situations, you may be the decision-maker, in which case you’ll need to demonstrate you have actively listened and drawn the threads together in verbalizing the decision or way forward. Overtly ignoring what people have said is worse than not having asked for their opinions!
- Actively seek input and suggestions on important matters in team meetings prior to making decisions. Team leaders can actively seek input from their teams by creating an open and inclusive environment during meetings. Start by clearly outlining the key issue or decision at hand, then invite everyone to share their perspectives, emphasizing that all ideas are welcome. Use open-ended questions to stimulate discussion and ask team members directly for their opinions to ensure quieter voices are heard. To encourage participation, leaders can implement round-robin discussions or breakout groups for deeper conversation. Additionally, providing a mechanism for anonymous feedback can help team members feel more comfortable sharing concerns or ideas. After gathering input, summarize the points raised and explain how they will be considered in the decision-making process, reinforcing that their contributions are valued.
- Work with the team to develop decision making criteria before discussing and making decisions. One of the most effective ways to avoid unproductive arguments or win-lose debates when making decisions or deciding a course of direction is to establish an up-front set of decision-making criteria. This might be a simple list of 4 – 6 key points/criteria that a decision should meet…whatever we come up with it must tick off these things…You may also take it one step further and rate the relative importance of each criterion. This can provide a one-step-removed rational basis for assessing different options, potentially enabling more considered discussions and assessment.
- Encourage people to ask questions of each other – not assume what others are thinking or that it is the same as their own thinking. When creating opportunities for team members to contribute to important discussions (see point 1 above), it is helpful at the commencement of a discussion, to explicitly encourage participants to ask questions of each other with a view to seeking understanding. You could also provide examples of broad questions you can ask, such as: What led you to that view? Can you tell me a bit more about that? What other perspectives did you consider before forming that view? As the conversation proceeds, you can also role model such questioning – being genuinely inquisitive and curious through open questions and avoiding the temptation to offer your views.
- Request feedback from team members about major changes before they occur. When major (or even minor) changes are being contemplated e.g., new work processes/practices, structural changes, delivery models etc, there is value in seeking feedback from those likely affected by the changes. This could include engaging with people through meetings and workshops to clarify problems/opportunities, define the criteria for success, identify options, and obtain feedback on options. It is not always necessary or appropriate to aim for consensus – the primary goal is for people to feel their voice was heard and contributed to the decision-making process. This can help build greater commitment to decisions and their implementation.
- Run regular team meetings and share available information. Team meetings provide an important opportunity to provide broader context for the work of a team and help reinforce the ‘why’ of the team’s work. In your leadership role, you are likely to have access to knowledge and information (through your attendance at higher-level meetings, being on circulation lists etc). Given this access, you can help people in your team understand the bigger picture, the rationale for major decisions, how people’s work connects to other parts of the organisation etc. This enables people to see the connection between their work and the broader ‘why’ of the organisation, while also enabling people to feel included and connected.
Having read this list, some questions you may want to ask yourself might be:
- Are there one or two ideas emerging for me that I might want to put into practice?
- What is the smallest thing I could do that might have a positive impact?
- How will I hold myself accountable for following through on my actions?
Good luck!