Psychological Safety: The Secret Ingredient of High-Performing Teams
Think about the last time you were working on a team project…
Could you ask any questions without the risk of sounding like you’re the only one out of the loop? Or did you opt to continue without clarifying any question, big or small, simply to avoid being perceived as the “uninformed one”? If the latter, then psychological safety in your team was likely low. I’ll share my insights on what we mean by psychological safety, and how we can build and maintain it.
“Being able to show and employ one’s self without fear of negative consequences to self-image, status or career.”
This is how psychological safety is described by professors at Harvard University, and it’s increasingly seen as a unique differentiator in how well teams perform.
Although many teams call themselves a “team”, when it comes to their dynamics, they act more like a “group of individuals”. We are all reluctant to engage in behaviors that could negatively influence how others perceive our competence, awareness and positivity. This logical kind of self-protection is a natural strategy of humankind – it’s how we protected ourselves when we experienced physical threats out on the savannah. Translating these behaviors to the modern workplace and they become counter-productive and harmful to effective teamwork.
Want to help increase the psychological safety of your team?
First things first, make it visible. By measuring your team’s psychological safety you can see where you have strengths as a team, and where there are areas to improve.
Ask each team member to rate the following statements on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) Do this by using an anonymous tool, such as Menti, to gather a collective view for the team.
Team members can bring up problems and tough issues.
I feel safe to take a risk in my team.
It is difficult to ask other members of my team for help.
No one in my team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts.
In my team environment, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized.
If I make a mistake in my team, it is often held against me.
Team members sometimes reject others for being different.
A positive response to the first five statements, along with a negative response to the final two statements, indicates strong psychological safety. Once you understand which aspects of your team are contributing to low levels of psychological safety, you can focus on specific actions to help improve. To help inform what you can do differently, read my tips on building psychological safety.
6 tips to help build psychological safety
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Pay attention to what others are saying by being truly present during meetings. Make eye contact, set your device to ‘do not disturb’ to avoid distraction, ask clarifying questions. Demonstrate understanding by recapping what has been said. Use your body language too. Lean forward, nod your head in acknowledgement, and use open facial expressions.
All of these behaviors demonstrate active engagement, and help contribute to creating an environment where it is more comfortable to speak up.
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Effective and safe teams focus on solutions instead of problems. Instead of asking ‘what happened and why?’, ask ‘how can we make sure this goes better next time?’. This way, you turn the responsibility into a group effort instead of singling out one team member for a mistake.
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Authenticity is key to many young generations in the working place. By bringing your ‘whole self’ to work, you show others that they can do this too. Help encourage others to do the same by demonstrating self-awareness on how you work best, your areas of development, how you like to communicate, and how you like to be recognized. (Check out my article on recognition)
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Did you know that negative stimuli have a 9 times stronger impact than positive ones? When team members are negative, it can spread through the team, resulting in less engagement and motivation. Set a standard as a team that negativity isn’t part of your culture, and call each other out on it when it’s visible.
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Before making a decision, ask your team members for their input, thoughts and feedback. Not only will this help them to feel included in the decision-making progress and build safety, it will also lead to better outcomes.
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Giving tough feedback is one of the things people find most difficult to do. It’s hard to land tough messages without losing sight of the human aspect. However, if we can voice our feelings and needs when conflicts arise, we can move on much quicker and get a much more compassionate reaction. Practice giving and receiving constructive feedback as a team; create spaces where you can do this. Focus on providing factual observations which are not influenced by your subjective feelings, avoid generalizing and end with a clear request.
The Take Away…
By focusing on one of these six strategies at a time, step by step, the level of psychological safety will increase and you will evolve from a ‘group of individuals’ to a ‘high-performing team’. It isn’t easy but it will pay dividends. Not only will you and your team feel better, you will perform and collaborate better together. As Amy Edmondson, Harvard Professor whose research originated the phrase ‘psychological safety’ says,
“It’s so much better to be in a workplace where you can be your real self, and contribute in a meaningful way.”
I agree – and I hope you do too.