Scenario: No Offense

As an action learning coach, how would you handle the following situation:

A team member says something very offensive – followed by “no offense”

 

Tags: Action Learning Coach

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Comments (5)

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    Christophe

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    I’d ask the group whether that was acceptable to the group. If it was a unanimous acceptance, I’d accept the ‘character’ of the group. If not, I’d ask how the group wants to progress in terms of respect for individuals within the group.

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    yeelaifong

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    I will pay attention to the other team members’ reactions (facial expressions, remarks, body language) to this “no offense” comment. If this comment poses a negative impact on the dynamics of the team, I will apply the SID (Situation, Impact, Do) intervention model.
    (1) Situation – ask the team, what do you notice about the team members’ reactions to this comment?
    (2) Impact – what is the impact on the action learning process at this point?
    (3) Do – what can we learn in terms of team dynamics?
    Through these questions, I hope the team will recognize the “elephant in the room” and take actions to address it, and move toward more positive and constructive team interactions.

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    Elizabeth Tsai

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    I would intervene immediately and ask the team the 3 standard questions: How are we doing as a team? A scale of 1-10? What are we doing well? What could we do better? Then go into the SID model: I have observed that some offensive comments have been made followed by “no offense”, did anyone else notice it? What is the impact of this kind of comment on problem solving, mutual respect and teambuilding? What could we do better to raise our mutual respect and performance level as a team?

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    DrBea

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    Elizabeth’s answer exactly matches what I would do.

    For me this goes right at the safe zone of the team and needs to be addressed immediately.

    Happy Coaching
    Bea

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    PUVANESWARAN KUNASEKARAN

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    As a learning coach I would ask to the group;

    What just happened?
    What is the impact of such behavior towards finding the solution and helping the problem presenter?
    What can we do to avoid such behavior from repeated again?

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