“The belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up!”
Psychological safety is a concept that has gained increasing attention in recent years, particularly in the workplace. It refers to the extent to which people feel safe to express themselves, take risks, and be vulnerable without fear of negative consequences. This can have a profound impact on individual and organizational performance, as well as employee well-being and job satisfaction.
Psychological Safety is generally defined as “the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.” (Definition by Professor Amy Edmonson, Harvard Business School).
Psychological safety means also that team-members are safe for interpersonal risk-taking. This means that people feel comfortable expressing themselves, sharing their thoughts and opinions, and making mistakes without fear of being criticized, punished, or ostracized. When psychological safety is present, people are more likely to speak up, ask for help, and collaborate with others, leading to better decision-making, increased creativity, and improved performance.
Research has shown that psychological safety is an essential component of high-performing teams. It is also linked to employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention. When people feel safe to express themselves and take risks, they are more likely to feel valued, respected, and supported, which can increase their sense of well-being and job satisfaction. Fostering psychological safety is not a one-size-fits-all approach. However, some best practices include:
· Encouraging open communication: Leaders should create a culture that values open and honest communication. This means promoting dialogue, actively listening to others, and creating opportunities for feedback.
· Demonstrating vulnerability: Leaders should model vulnerability by admitting mistakes, asking for help, and acknowledging their limitations. This sets the tone for others to do the same and creates a culture of mutual support.
· Recognizing and rewarding positive behaviors: Leaders should recognize and reward behaviors that promote psychological safety, such as speaking up, taking risks, and admitting mistakes.
· Creating a safe space: Leaders should create a physical and psychological space where people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings. This could involve setting up a dedicated meeting space or using icebreakers to encourage team building.
· Providing training and development: Leaders should provide training and development opportunities that promote skills such as active listening, giving feedback, and conflict resolution.
In conclusion, psychological safety is a vital component of a healthy and productive workplace. Leaders who create a culture of psychological safety can promote better communication, increased innovation, and improved performance, as well as greater well-being and job satisfaction for their employees. By fostering psychological safety, leaders can create an environment where people can thrive and reach their full potential.
Psychological Safety is a set of behaviors, competencies and practices that must be embraced and experienced on a daily basis in the workplace. You can’t fake psychological safety at work. This is one corporate principle that can’t be only hanging on the walls in a nice poster, but it must be lived through actions from the leaders, to front line, direct supervisors, leaders, managers and everyone else. Psychological safety has numerous benefits for individuals and organizations, including:
· Increased trust: When people feel safe to express themselves, they are more likely to trust others and build stronger relationships.
· Improved performance: Psychological safety can lead to better decision-making, increased creativity, and improved performance.
· Increased innovation: When people feel safe to take risks and try new things, they are more likely to innovate and find new solutions to problems.
· Better well-being: Psychological safety can increase well-being by reducing stress, anxiety, and burnout.
· Increased job satisfaction: When people feel valued, respected, and supported, they are more likely to feel satisfied with their jobs and more committed to the organization.
Embracing psychological safety means operating at a corporate, teams and individual level by the set of behavior and practices that are fundamental to it at all times: when things are going smooth, and when things get hard.
One fundamental truth about psychological safety (and very much a truth about all things corporate culture) is that it is generally operationalized at a team level in the relationship between the team and the leader, and the leader and the individuals of that team. That’s how you bring psychological safety to reality.
If the CEO embraces psychological safety, but it is violated repeatedly at a team level, then there is no psychological safety, regardless of what the CEO says. There are nine actions, leaders can engage with to build psychological safety in their teams.
1. Be Genuine
As a leader you have to believe that Psychological Safety is the right thing to do for your people and your business. You have to come from a place of authenticity and passion for it so that when things get challenging you continue forward
2. Build Trust
Building trust is fundamental to create Psychological Safety, because Psychological Safety is essentially a component of positive human relationships. Focus on building trust by keeping your word, and acting with integrity and fairness.
3. Be Open
You have to listen with an open mind. You have to solicit feedback about your own leadership style and reassure people that they are safe in doing so. You have to act with maturity when getting feedback from your team. Appreciate the feedback.
4. Provide Support
Supportive (servant) leaders have a positive correlation with Psychological Safety. As a servant leader you provide the resources that are required for your team and individuals to accomplish their goals. Basically, you are setting them up for success.
5. Challenge People
Challenging teams also has a positive correlation with Psychological Safety. “Challenging” means that as a (servant) leader you increase the complexity of their projects for them to learn new skills, grow and remain engaged, and you do so with kindness and support.
6. Show Appreciation
Show value, appreciation and respect for everyone in the team and their ideas. This isn’t about agreeing with them or not, but about appreciating people’s efforts and creating a positive environment that invites people to bring up their ideas and thoughts.
7. Be a Coach
You create Psychological Safety as a leader by becoming a champion of people’s growth and higher performance. Coaching the teams and individuals is key in your relationship with them as a role model but also as someone who wants to see people grow
8. Be Precise
Psychological Safety requires you to focus on people’s performance and be precise with related information: goals, expectations, commitments and feedback. You want to be accurate with your team about their performance
9. Encourage
Psychological Safety is a lot about encouragement. Encouraging people to speak up and out, to stand up, to take risks, to experiment, to step in. As a leader you have to encourage people to do this by actively reminding them that it is safe to do so in the team
