Creating a Safe Space Through a ‘Ranting Exercise

Creating a Safe Space Through a 'Ranting' Exercise 

This exercise was created and provided by Culture First Chapter Lead of Mexico City, Andra Vaduva. Follower her on LinkedIn here or on Instagram @andr.avaduva. Check out her exercise on her notion page here or her website here.  

Given the high levels of stress and anxiety we’ve been exposed to for the majority of the last three years, I consider it imperative to create a space of shared vulnerability, safety, and trust with our community. Our members, followers, and champions in our corner will follow us and remain loyal as long as we stay true to our values and make active decisions to create environments where our members can be themselves.

As an advocate for psychological safety in the workplace, I’ve seen its positive impact on communities and organizations firsthand. Psychological safety impacts performance, and engagement, hence growth and innovation. My personal goal as a Culture First Lead is to bring the audience closer by surfacing the issues they are bothered about and showing how similar we are in our thinking and emotions. 

Session Description

The participants are invited to rant FOR something (not just against something). Participants will be invited to be constructive, to criticize a specific event, decision or news. The end goal is to make suggestions about some actions—preferably somewhat controversial ones in an entertaining manner that will lead to a good discussion.

Session Structure

The session can takes the form of a 30-minute rant, followed by 20 minutes of discussion.

The facilitator will ask the group for participation. They will then choose 4 participants to rant FOR something, not just against something. Each participant will have 5 minutes to describe the issue, explain why it’s important to them, and share an (or more) action item(s) to attempt to solve the problem. 

Facilitator tip - make sure to set a timer for these rants

After each participant expresses their ‘rant,’ the audience is invited to vote in the chat for the number one issue (out of the 4) they were impacted by the most. The facilitator will invite 3-4 attendees to express why that is the most important event for them. The facilitator will guide the discussion and invite the audience to lean into kindness, open-mindedness, empathy, and love.

The facilitator will then close by addressing the critical need for shared vulnerability and highlighting that we are more similar than we believe. 

Guide for Participants

These are the guidelines for the Ranters. 

• Rant FOR something, not just against something. Be constructive. It’s okay to criticize things, but your goal should be to make suggestions about some actions - preferably somewhat controversial ones in an entertaining manner that will lead to good discussion.

• Get to the point. You haven’t got long so assume the audience knows what you’re talking about. They’ll soon let you know if they don’t.

• Explain why you care - not just for yourself but for other people, be they developers or users or society in general. Anger and frustration can be constructive, so long as it comes from a place of care.

• Be clear and direct. Be passionate, but remain coherent and concise. Passion is good! 

• Reference real-world examples. Refer to companies and organizations, but don’t ‘name and shame’ individuals. Don’t be defamatory.

• Enjoy yourself!

Guide for Attendees (Non Participants) 

• See all of the above, and…

• Ask open, non-leading questions to clarify your understanding and the Ranter’s - help them, help yourself.

• Make respectful suggestions and/or provide additional or alternative perspectives and evidence.

• If things go quiet, consider the “devil’s advocate” role - but only when it goes quiet, not before. Let those who might have real objections speak first.

General guidance for all participants

• Ask for and address people by name where possible (say, “hi, X”) - be personable and personal.

• Introduce yourself before asking a question or making a statement.

• Speak for yourself, not for other people. Use the personal pronoun not the abstract third person: say “I think…”, “I feel…”, “In my experience…”; rather than, “It’s thought..”, “That makes X feel…”, “Developers say…”

• Be patient with people who are struggling to express themselves for whatever reason. We’re here to construct and deconstruct arguments, not to criticise speech patterns and grammar.

• Actively listen - try to avoid thinking about your response before they’ve finished their point.

• It’s okay to say, “give me a minute” if you need to think, and if someone says it to you let them think - not everyone can argue on their feet at speed. A little silence can be good, try not to fill it.

• Address the argument, don’t attack the person

• Don’t try to win - this is not a competition. Listen, think, make constructive points. In this context: if you win, everyone loses.

• Not every conversation will lead to agreement - It is okay to agree to disagree or walk away if the conversation isn’t proving fruitful

• People are individuals. Don’t assume anyone represents a group by what they say, how they look, or who you think they are