Three Steps that Make it Easier to Speak up in Teams

As a startup co-founder, I have been on the wrong end of a few disputes, and I am sure some could also attest to being on the wrong end with me. So, how do we tell who was the offender and who was the victim in such disputes? It can’t be that simple or there would not be so many unresolved disputes, hmmmm?

“He started it, so I’ll finish it!” is one claim we can have, but this sounds so childish. Surely we have grown up enough to be able to resolve disputes better than this? I believe there is a better way.

So, imagine if we agreed, as a team, that we could object when we felt offended by what someone else in our team did or said. And we did it in one of three phases or steps depending on our objection being accepted or challenged. This procedure is called Object123, and I believe makes it easier for us to speak up.

It works in two ways:

1. When we speak up, and someone tries to criticize, embarrass, discourage, ignore, shame, trivialize, bully, or intimidate us, we can OBJECT to their offensive behavior, in real-time, using the following:
   1. A mild CAUTION – if not accepted by the offender then…
   2. An official text OBJECTION – if still not accepted by offender…
   3. A curt STOP – then posted on the Disputz Network for reviewing.
   If unresolved, our dispute is automatically posted on the dispute network to be reviewed and adjudicated by our peers and voted on if necessary.
   
2. Feeling safe to speak up and knowing that we need to be accountable now that the procedure is established within our organization, we can focus much more on SPEAKING UP to solve all the real problems that need solving in our business.

How simple is that?