The dual benefits of scanning for R.O.T. in your team

R.O.T. is an acronym of tech origin that stands for redundant, obsolete, or trivial.

Timothy R Clark, social scientist, researcher, and author tells us it’s important to look for R.O.T. as ‘everything we do eventually becomes obsolete’.

Clark talks about this concept when discussing Challenger Safety, the fourth and most complex stage in his 4 stages of psychological safety framework.

He states ‘that identifying sources of R.O.T. represent the low hanging fruit of a status quo that needs to be dismantled’.

In other words – you can find new ways, better ways, more effective ways to do things by making it safe to raise new ideas and challenge the status-quo.

Not only will doing this foster psychological safety within your team (see the activity guidelines I’ve developed for you to support this) – but by identifying and eliminating these sources of R.O.T. you may also be mitigating a common psychosocial hazard – work overload.

By scanning for R.O.T. you can identify outdated workflows, patterns or habits that by eradicating will enable you to create efficiencies and claw back some much needed time to breathe.

How do you start?

- Openly invite and encourage your team to scan for R.O.T.
- Hold a creative brainstorming session, invite their thoughts, contributions and ideas on things that may be redundant, obsolete or trivial.
- Use the new energy of 2023 to try something crazy with your team. Have fun with it, give into it and change the way you do things to create different outcomes this year.

I’ve developed a downloadable activity guide to help you run this activity with your team and ensure it rewards everyone’s vulnerability. Be aware that individuals can hold emotional attachment to their own ideas or processes. So if someone is voting one be killed off, you’ll need to be managing this appropriately. Set some ground rules to help smooth the way – see more information in the download here.

Reach out for a chat to discuss Psychological Safety Workplace Training or Programs.

Tan x

Tanya Heaney-Voogt

Director & Principal Consultant
MBA, ICFACC, MAHRI, Dip Mgt, Dip Coaching, Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner
E: tanya@tanyaheaneyvoogt.com

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