How to Build a Safe Environment

Today, I will teach you how to build a safe environment in which your team can flourish and become successful.

Building a safe environment within your team from the beginning will help establish a long-lasting team culture.

This is especially important if you are managing a sales team.

Sale is a unique profession where we lose 80% of the time.

Unfortunately, most CEOs, founders, and sales leaders fail to build a safe environment.

As a result, people begin to avoid giving feedback out of fear of being judged.

Teams lose confidence and turn against each other, gossiping behind your back on Slack channels.

Unhappiness and blaming kick in.

Before you know it, top performers start leaving your company while underperformers become frustrated.

Numbers and activities decrease rapidly, and you find yourself in trouble in no time.

A great team culture starts from the leaders who establish it and who lead from the front creating safe environments.

Today I’m going to help you build a safe place, where people feel free to speak up, to give feedback out loud and to adapt to changes effectively.

The benefits are massive:

• You will retain top performers.

• You will transition faster underperformers with zero or little impact on the rest of the team.

• You will build a high-performing team that lasts through downtimes and changes.

Step 1: How to Work with Me

During my time as Head of Sales at Boom, I found myself managing a team of 14 in less than 6 months.

With multiple personalities to manage, I needed to start building a safe environment.

I wrote an open letter to the team and included it in our sales playbook on Notion.

The letter outlined my beliefs, the personality types I enjoy working with, and what I care about.

It also included information on meeting protocols, how I like to receive feedback, and how I use email and Slack.

It turned out to be the most read part of the playbook and helped me establish trust from the get-go, indeed with the new hires.

first part of Matteo’s “How to Work with Me”

Step 2: Feedback

To build a safe environment feedback has to flow back and forth all the time.

It should be instant and constructive.

I would accept feedback even if given too direct sometimes or with limited information if comes from my team.

I would always go first, giving feedback and seeking it.

During a team meeting or a coaching session, or a deal review.

I would always encourage the team to speak up.

Step 3: Open Floor Coaching

One way to increase safety within a team is to coach them all together in an effective way.

The most effective coaching session I’ve ever run is the open floor coaching session.

Pick a topic and discuss it all together, challenging each other and giving feedback.

Example: you pick 2 people and ask them to role-play a sales call. When finished ask the floor to tell them 3 things they did right and 3 things they could have done better.

It’s the most powerful way to build safe teams and coach them through.

Step 4: One-to-One’s

I love 1:1s. I have never skipped one in my career.

I’m not easy though. Instead, I’m very challenging and I call people out.

1:1s is the best moment to build safety, and trust and to show that you care.

Because remember, if you care you can challenge your team.

If you challenge them but you don’t care you are just another asshole.

Step 5: Celebration

Finally, the best part: building a safe environment through celebration.

It’s important to celebrate every achievement, big or small, within your team.

The concept of the carrot and the stick may be old, but it’s still effective when building teams.

For example, try setting up a bi-weekly celebration meeting on a Friday afternoon.

Have 3 small prizes (even a LinkedIn recommendation or an Amazon voucher) ready to give out to the top people from the previous weeks.

They can be awarded for the best demo, best team player, or best discovery call.

Remember, it’s important to celebrate not only those who hit revenue-related goals but also the rest of the team for non-revenue-related achievements.

In Summary

Building high-performing teams requires a safe environment where people can thrive.

While it’s important to challenge and demand excellence, people must feel safe first.

Failing to do so means missing the entire trajectory of your leadership.

This Week’s Action Step

Write a letter to your team about “How to Work with Me”.

You can use this ​template​.

Ask yourself:

• Is my team safe?

• Are they able to speak up freely?

• Is my team giving feedback?

If the answer is “no” to any of these questions, then it’s time to take action.

That’s all for today. See you next week.