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Confidentiality
Confidentiality
July 25, 2001
"Most teams do not think about the issue of confidentiality until after something comes up that warrants a discussion. By then it is usually too late. Confidentiality involves the nondisclosure of information, opinions, team considerations, or discussions outside the team meetings, unless authorized by the team.
Confidentiality is an important communication norm to establish:
* Confidentiality establishes trust among team members that interpersonal issues that arise will not be inappropriately divulged to others.
* It ensures that sensitive organizational issues can be 'shaped' by the team prior to their introduction to larger organizations.
* It assures the team and team members that ideas will not be taken out of context.
* It ensures that ideas in the brainstorming process will be just ideas for consideration. It creates a safer environment for true 'blue sky thinking' (Woodring & Zigarmi, 1997, p. 193)."
Reference: Woodring, S.F. & Zigarmi, D., (1997). The team
leader's idea-a-day guide: 250 ways to make your team more
effective and productive every working day of the year.
Chicago: The Dartnell Corporation.
* The Team Leader's Idea-A-Day Guide is available on loan at the OSU Leadership Center. A listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/
Created: 2009-01-02, Updated: 2009-01-14
