Thank you for joining us on the “Speak Up Culture” podcast, where we discuss fostering a culture of open communication with senior business leaders like yourself. 

Please feel free to select three to six questions from the list provided below, or use them as inspiration for your own questions. If you prefer, we can do an impromptu interview where I tailor the questions during the interview to focus on your personal experiences and perspectives on building a culture of speaking up.

Please share your preferred questions with us via email [ivnacuri@assertiveway.com] or through LinkedIn at [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivna-curi-mba-67083b2]. We look forward to hearing your valuable insights on this important topic.

SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

 

IMPORTANCE

• What does a speak up culture look like to you?
• How can a speaking up culture benefit the employees and the organization?
• How important is a speak up culture in today’s business environment, and why? Do you believe it can significantly support DEI, decision making, performance, productivity, retention, employee engagement, or innovation?

YOUR EXPERIENCES

• How do you support your team to speak up more? 
• What challenges have you faced in promoting a speak up culture, and how have you overcome them?
• When you were starting out your career, in what situations were you less comfortable speaking up? What helped you speak up?
• When you were in entry level or mid management, in what situations were you less comfortable speaking up? What helped you speak up?
• How has your approach changed with virtual and hybrid work?
• What strategies do you use to help employees overcome fear or anxiety about speaking up?
• What measures do you take to ensure that employees who speak up are protected from retaliation or negative consequences?

TOOLS

• What role do you believe technology plays in promoting a speak up culture?
• What role do incentives and recognition play in promoting open communication and speaking up culture?
• What role does psychological safety play in promoting open communication and speaking up culture?
• What role does assertive communication training play in promoting open communication and speaking up culture?
• What role does leadership communication play in promoting open communication and speaking up culture?
• What role do processes play in promoting open communication and speaking up culture?
• What role do company values play in promoting a speak up culture, and how do you communicate these values to employees?
• What role do middle managers play in promoting a speak up culture, and how can they be empowered to support this initiative?

MEASUREMENT

• How do you measure the success of your team’s and organization’s open communication levels?
• How do you measure the impact of a speak up culture on employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention?
• How do you measure the impact of a speak up culture on DEI?
• How do you measure the impact of a speak up culture on performance and productivity?
• How do you measure the impact of a speak up culture on innovation?

SITUATIONAL

• How do you incorporate employee voice into innovation and change management initiatives?
• What steps do you take to foster a culture of constructive criticism?
• How do you encourage employees to speak up when they notice potential ethical or legal issues within the organization?
• What methods do you use to collect employee feedback and suggestions, and how do you ensure that they are acted upon?
• How do you encourage employees to speak up about mistakes they’ve made early on?
• How do you encourage employees to promptly express concerns, ask for clarification, and ask hard questions?
• How do you encourage managers to openly speak about expectations and keep people accountable?
• How do you encourage employee to talk about what they need or want to be successful, productive, and engaged rather than quiet quitting or quitting.
• How do you encourage employees and managers to promptly make hard and unpopular decisions like layoffs, cost cutting, restructuring teams, closing down an unprofitable product or business line, reallocating resources, terminating contracts, addressing misconduct?
• How do you involve employees in decision-making processes?
• How do you ensure that all employees, regardless of their position or seniority, feel heard and valued even when you are not in the room?

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

• What measures do you take to ensure that employees who speak up are protected from retaliation or negative consequences?
• How can leaders support minorities and underrepresented groups to speak up given greater fear of backlash and retaliation?
• How do you ensure that feedback from diverse perspectives is incorporated into decision-making processes?

TEAM COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS

• How do you address conflicts that arise due to differences in communication styles or cultural backgrounds?
• What are some of the most common barriers to effective communication and how do you overcome them?
• How can leaders help employees communicate assertively and respectfully with each other?
• Some employees are outspoken in an aggressive way which hurts the team’s speaking up safety. How can leaders balance still encouraging employees to speak up but in a way that is not aggressive? 

GENERAL

• What are some common mistakes that leaders make when trying to promote a speak up culture, and how can these be avoided?
• What advice would you give to other senior leaders looking to promote a speak up culture within their own organizations?
• How do you balance the need for open communication with the need to maintain hierarchy and authoritywithin an organization?

What you’ll need for recording: an external microphone, a silent location without too many hard surfaces (Large rug or blanket on floor can do the trick), and a steady surface for your computer. That’s it!

If you have any questions, please message me on Linkedin, email them to me at ivnacuri@assertiveway.com or schedule a 15 min call with me here. I’m excited to get to interview you and share your leadership perspectives on building a speaking up culture with the world!

Ivna Curi