Today, we operate in a rapidly changing reality characterized by constant technological advancements, shifting customer needs, and evolving social and environmental expectations. Companies and public organizations must adapt swiftly and effectively to these complex challenges to remain competitive, relevant, and efficient. To find the right solutions, leaders should draw on the knowledge and insights of their employees. Relying solely on top-down decision-making from the boardroom is insufficient.

Instead, we advocate for fostering a culture of collaboration and co-creation, where employees are encouraged to share their ideas and insights to actively engage them in the journey of change. 

The Iceberg of Ignorance, coined by Sidney Yoshida, illustrates the distribution of problems and information within an organization. According to this theory, only 4% of problems are known to top management, 9% to middle management, 74% to supervisors, and a full 100% to employees on the front line. This highlights that the majority of an organization’s issues are not known at the highest levels.

Many solutions have been tried over time, with varying degrees of success.

Most organizations regularly use surveys to gauge metrics like employee satisfaction and well-being, quickly yielding data-driven insights that can be compared across departments or over time. While these surveys reveal the number of people opting for predefined options, they often fail to uncover the reasoning behind their choices. Moreover, acting on collected employee ideas can be challenging.

As a result, leadership often finds themselves with more questions than answers when evaluating areas of focus or seeking solutions to potential issues. 

Traditional meetings also fall short. Frequently, a handful of extroverts dominate the discussion, while quieter individuals may hold equally important information and ideas. Physical meetings are often prone to groupthink and bias, with some thoughts left unspoken.

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Scalable Conversations

But what if we could scale conversations and allow people to respond in their own words instead of selecting from predefined options? What if participants could assess and build upon each other's responses in a direct online dialogue?

This is precisely achievable today with innovative tools. Leveraging smart facilitation and online platforms, we've transformed traditional feedback and co-creation sessions into insightful and engaging experiences where everyone has a voice simultaneously on a large scale.

By scaling conversations from a few to thousands of participants, we can gather and evaluate more perspectives and ideas than ever before. Enabling employees to share their thoughts in their own words and to evaluate or expand on others' contributions leads to more authentic and diverse feedback. By maintaining anonymity in the process, we eliminate biases and encourage honest participation.

As one client remarked after a workshop: "It was a bit like being in a sci-fi movie, because we could see live what they were writing, how they were writing, how many agreed, and how quickly they reached consensus. It was like getting a peek into their minds, seeing the collective thought process unfold."

And there's even more to gain. When everyone has the opportunity to participate and contribute their own feedback, participants feel heard and valued. This enhances their sense of ownership and engagement in the change process. Ultimately, improved employee satisfaction and organizational success follow.

It's time to foster genuine employee involvement through scalable conversations!

First published in Børsen.dk:
https://borsen.dk/nyheder/opinion/debat-inddrag-dine-medarbejdere-i-forandringsprocesser-og-se-uvidenhedens-isbjerg-smelte-vaek

Written by Sara Høyer Kragelund and Jesper Riedel