If you don’t create psychological safety at work, those ambitions will not be possible. In this article, we’ll talk about what psychological safety is, why it matters, and strategies for creating it at work. As a leader, one of your top priorities is to help your team members succeed and feel engaged with their work
Promote Self-Awareness
To create psychological safety in the workplace, start by building self-awareness in your team
Why does psychological safety matter?
Teams that feel empowered to share their perspectives with each other, especially when their opinions differ from the rest of the group, are able to more fully leverage the knowledge and talent that each member brings to the team.
- Psychological safety is also critical to a team’s ability to give and receive candid, respectful feedback.
Own up to mistakes
Regularly ask employees what they’ve done that didn’t work out as expected and what they learned from those experiences.
- Doing so will help team members recognize that they won’t be punished for mistakes and help them feel more comfortable taking risks and speaking up.
Demonstrate concern for team members as people
Check in with employees regularly to gauge how they are doing
Provide multiple ways for employees to share their thoughts
Encourage team members to share feedback via email or through online collaboration tools (e.g. Slack or Microsoft Teams)
- This gives employees more time to think through responses before posting them to the blog or posting them online.
What is psychological safety?
A belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes
- Google’s research identified psychological safety as the top indicator of performance of a team
- Teams with strong psychological safety are less afraid of the negative consequences that may result from taking smart risks, making mistakes, sharing their opinions within their team, and being candid with one another
Benefits of Psychological Safety
Psychological safety improves team performance and enhances employee engagement.
- When team members feel that their insights are appreciated they: Feel like a respected part of their team, see the value of their work, and feel accepted for who they are and the unique strengths they bring
How to measure psychological safety
Traditional psychological safety assessments tend to focus solely on perceptions at the team level
- Consider asking questions that measure employees’ perceptions of psychological safety both at work and within their team
- Focus your data analysis on the team-level
- Any action taken will be most effective within teams
Show Value and Appreciation for Ideas
Thank people for their contributions and show appreciation for their insights.
- This will help establish psychological safety and foster an environment where ideas are valued and valued as an extension of the work being done
- As you brainstorm, suspend judgement and enjoy the process
Promote positive dialogue and discussion
Use affirmative language to inspire honest conversations
Actively solicit questions
As your team is arriving at a decision, pause your meeting to ask for questions, different viewpoints and considerations that have not yet been voiced
Be precise with information, expectations and commitments
To build psychological safety, your team members need to trust you and your word, so be mindful about the information you share and expectations you set.
Explain reasons for change
When expectations change or new information is revealed, be clear about what changed and why and give your team members time to process the change.
Psychological Safety and DE&I
Diverse opinions, experiences, and knowledge can be better leveraged if team members feel comfortable speaking up and are accustomed to considering alternate viewpoints
