# Team Habits That Make Change Safe

> When a teammate speaks up during an improvement project, your reply decides whether they speak up again. Learn three moves (thank them, act, close the loop) and build them into your team's briefs, huddles and debriefs. Then plan it for your own project.

Free online course from AdoptionLab.AI, category: Change Management, about 34 minutes, self-paced, no sign-in.

Take the course: https://campus.adoptionlab.ai/free/team-habits-that-make-change-safe
Last updated: 2026-10-15

## What you will be able to do

- Identify when a teammate is raising a concern, whatever their role.
- Choose a reply that thanks the person and keeps them talking.
- Use listening moves in place of a defensive reply.
- Track each concern with an owner and a status until you report back.
- Plan a speaking-up moment for your project's brief, huddle or debrief.

## Inside the course

### Start here

- About AdoptionLab.AI
- The moment after someone speaks up
- What you will be able to do

### Why your reply matters

- Why your reply matters
- Every role gets heard
- Hear the concern: CUS
- If they have to say it twice
- Spot the concern

### Move 1: Thank them

- Thank them, specifically
- The first three seconds
- Thank the challenge out loud

### Listen without defending

- Open or defensive?
- Small reactions that shut people down
- Say it back before you answer
- Swap "why?" for "what matters?"
- Case study: Cedar Ridge, part 7 of 8

### Moves 2 and 3: Act and close the loop

- Move 2: Act, and follow through
- Case study: Visible fixes rebuild trust
- Give it an owner and a status
- Move 3: Close the loop
- Practice: close the loop

### Build it into your routines

- Open with a brief
- Anyone can call a huddle
- Ask so people answer
- Be the first ally
- Practice: open the huddle
- The three-minute debrief

### Check and apply

- Check yourself
- Your work task: plan and tracker
- What to take with you
- How AdoptionLab.AI can help your team succeed

- Tell us what you think

### Check and apply

- Sources

Ends with a 7-question knowledge check.

## How to cite

AdoptionLab.AI. (2026). Team Habits That Make Change Safe [Free online course]. AdoptionLab Campus. https://campus.adoptionlab.ai/free/team-habits-that-make-change-safe

Rights: © 2026 AdoptionLab.AI. Summaries, short quotes with attribution and links are welcome; please do not copy, adapt or republish this course or use it to train AI without written permission.