Psychological Safety

What is Psychological Safety and Why Does it Matter?

• Are you frustrated by your team meetings?
• Do your team members seem withdrawn, disengaged or distracted?
• Do they struggle to share ideas and solve challenges through open discussion?
• Do your team members struggle to deal with conflict and mistakes in an open and constructive manner? Have you observed sub-groups or cliques in your team that seem exclusive?

If you have answered “yes” to any of these questions, building your teams’ Psychological Safety may be the answer for you.

A psychological safe environment is always important for effective teamwork and performance, but during a crisis it is even more critical. The uncertainty, fear and lack of information and clarity that is normal during times of crisis increases the need to cultivate a psychologically safe environment, where team members feel mentally and emotionally safe to be themselves, is now more important than ever. To aid managers with creating an inclusive and engaging work environment, managers need to understand what Psychological Safety is, how it impacts on the success of their team, as well as what actions they can take to build it

What is Psychological Safety?

According to Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, who coined the term, “Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes." To put it another way, it’s about: asking for and giving candid feedback, openly admitting mistakes, seeking assistance from others, being honest about risks and concerns in the team, being open about lack of knowledge in certain areas and learning from each other. All of these elements are important behaviours of any successful team, and are critical to the survival of organisations during the Covid-19 crisis. In a psychologically safe and trusting environment, team members are able to freely participate in interactions and engage authentically without fear that they will be:

• branded as ignorant, incompetent, or ill-informed
• seen as arrogant, pretentious, over-critical, negative, or disruptive
• responded to with ridicule, rejection, blame, disrespect, anger, intimidation, and disregard; their credibility harmed
• punished, for example, with negative performance appraisals, unfavourable work assignments or reduced promotion prospects or other repercussions 

Why is Psychological Safety Important?

Low levels of psychological safety in teams impacts on important matters such as performance, innovation, learning, and overall personal success. If team members do not feel psychologically safe, they are likely to keep ideas to themselves, shy away from challenging the status quo, and take longer to make decisions. They are also likely to actively avoid making mistakes and therefore stop taking appropriate risks.

On the other hand, high levels of psychological safety are strongly associated with team members bringing their whole self to work, and expressing their creativity, talents and skills without exhibiting self-censoring and self-silencing behaviours. Team members also tend to exhibit a high learning culture, where they feel safe to learn actively on the job, stretching their capabilities and those of the team.

Tips for Creating a Safe Space for your Team (with acknowledgement to Google Re:Work)

Be present

• Focus on the conversation (e.g. close your laptop during meetings, put your phone aside)
• Listen with intent and ask open-ended questions
• Give input, demonstrate your interest
• Provide verbal encouragement (e.g. that is interesting, please tell us more…)
• Be aware of your body language
• Make and maintain eye contact to form a connection and show you are active listening.

Let them know you understand

• Recap to show your understanding and confirm areas of mutual understanding.
• Acknowledge areas of agreement and disagreement and be open to questions and comments from the team
• Validate their input verbally (“I understand.” “I see what you’re saying.”)
• Avoid blaming and instead, focus on solutions (“How can we do better next time?”)
• Don’t forget about your facial expressions - are they unintentionally negative?

Be open about interpersonal work preferences

• Share your personal work style and preferences, and encourage the team to do the same
• Be available and approachable (make time for ad hoc 1:1 check-ins and coaching)
• Clearly communicate the purpose of meetings (have an agenda, allow input before the meeting)
• Express appreciation for contributions from the team
• Step in when individual team members talk negatively about colleagues
• Build a sense of connection (create an opportunity for team members to share a bit about their lives and interests outside of work)

Be inclusive

• Seek opinions and feedback from the team (and be open to hearing some constructive feedback)
• Don’t interrupt or allow interruptions (ensure everyone has a voice and is heard)
• Provide the WHY - explain the reasoning behind your decisions
• Acknowledge and give recognition for individual/ team contributions to work

Show confidence but be open

• Manage team discussions (e.g. don't allow side conversations in team meetings, make sure conflict isn’t personal)
• Support the team (e.g., share work with senior leadership, give credit)
• Invite the team to challenge your perspective (create a space for healthy discussion and debate)
• Model vulnerability - share your personal perspective on your work (and setbacks) with your team.
• Encourage your team to try new things and demonstrate risk-taking in your own work.

To identify the level of safety in your team, access the Line Manager Reflection Tool.