Staff psychological safety and measurement for change
ideation
INTERACTIONS
Our experience in embedding measurement for change principles in a project reveals that staff psychological safety is key to the fulfilling measurement for change aspirations. Staff need to be confident and free in sharing and reflecting on what is working, what is not working, what needs to change and what needs to be added to the intervention. Staff also need to be confident that this open sharing will not have negative repercussions for them, buy into the idea of measurement for change and develop a learning culture. In our case, this was encouraged through what was called the Sharing, Quality, Interactions and Discussions (SQUID), an internal Save the Children and Umuhuza mechanism for learning, reflection, and ideation. At its peak, between 2014 and 2018, staff met monthly for a SQUID meeting where learning, reflection, ideation, dreaming, reflection, and self-critique was not only encouraged but celebrated in a psychologically safe environment.