Okay Webs, How Do I Know It’s Working If I Can’t Use Body Language?

You’ve put in the work: structured think time, task-based activities, and anonymous tools. Your sessions feel smoother, but how do you know if your team is truly engaged—or just going through the motions?

Not all participation signals real engagement. Phil Schlechty reminds us that compliance is not the same as commitment, and James Paul Gee highlights that deep engagement happens in meaningful, purposeful spaces.

Psychological safety isn’t a “vibe”—it’s measurable through behaviors and patterns that signal deeper trust. Here’s how to track whether your strategies are fostering genuine engagement over time.

1. Move Beyond Compliance to Commitment

Schlechty identifies three levels of engagement:

1. Authentic Engagement: Team members are deeply invested in the work because it’s meaningful to them.
2. Strategic Compliance: People participate because it’s expected or rewarded—but their heart isn’t in it.
3. Ritual Compliance: Team members are going through the motions with minimal effort or energy.

What to Look For:

• Are contributions focused, thoughtful, and connected to shared goals (authentic engagement)?
• Are people only showing up because they “have to” (compliance)?

Practical Strategy: Pair anonymous input with open reflection.

• Use Miro or a shared tool to gather anonymous thoughts on a shared goal: “What part of this work feels meaningful to you? What doesn’t?”
• Reflect as a group: “What’s keeping us aligned with this goal, and what’s making it harder?”

Why It Works:
You’re assessing not just whether people participate but why. Authentic engagement reflects higher psychological safety.

2. Recognize Situated Learning and Purposeful Participation

James Paul Gee argues that people engage most deeply when their work is situated in meaningful, real-world contexts.

The Signal: Engagement happens when team members feel their contributions matter beyond the meeting.

What to Look For:

• Do team members ask clarifying questions that show curiosity?
• Are ideas and insights being carried forward into actionable next steps?
• Are quieter team members starting to contribute when the work connects to their strengths or interests?

Practical Strategy: Frame tasks in real-world context.
Instead of asking, “How can we improve the workflow?”, connect the task to purpose:

“What change would make this workflow serve our team better tomorrow?”

Why It Works:
When team members see their work as part of a larger, meaningful system, they engage authentically, not just strategically.

3. Track Engagement Patterns Across Different Spaces

Teams engage in different ways depending on the setting. James Paul Gee’s affinity spaces concept teaches us that people thrive when they can contribute in ways aligned with their identities, skills, and comfort levels.

What to Look For:

• Are people contributing more in smaller groups, asynchronously, or through tools rather than live conversation?
• Is psychological safety growing across multiple spaces—live meetings, follow-ups, or Slack threads?

Practical Strategy: Diversify the ways team members can engage.

• Use breakout rooms, asynchronous tools like Miro, and Slack threads to allow people to contribute in their own space and time.
• Track which spaces spark the most meaningful engagement for each team member.

Why It Works:
Providing multiple pathways to participate aligns with team members’ strengths, making it easier to engage authentically.

4. Use Anonymous Pulse Surveys to Gauge Trust

Participation trends tell part of the story, but it’s important to check in directly about psychological safety.

Practical Example: Regular, anonymous check-ins.

• Ask quick questions like:
  • “Do you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts openly in this team?”
  • “What’s one thing we could change to make collaboration easier for you?”
• Track responses over time to identify growth or stagnation.

Why It Works:
It provides clear signals about trust without putting team members on the spot.

5. Assess Follow-Through and Ownership

True engagement doesn’t stop when the meeting ends. Schlechty’s “authentic engagement” is evident when team members take ownership of next steps.

What to Look For:

• Do team members follow through on agreed actions?
• Are people proactively raising ideas or voicing concerns outside facilitated spaces?

Practical Strategy: Reflect on progress in follow-up meetings.

• Use prompts like: “What’s one thing we’ve improved as a team this week? What’s one thing we still need to tackle?”

Why It Works:
Sustained engagement and ownership are clear signs of trust and psychological safety.

Not all participation is created equal. By assessing engagement through Schlechty’s levels, Gee’s purposeful spaces, and concrete behavioral patterns, you’ll know if your trust-building strategies are moving the needle.

The next post will bring the series full circle: practical ways to reframe icebreakers as tools for teams who already trust each other—so they enhance connection instead of breaking it.