In every industry, the teams that perform the best and most consistently do so because they have psychological safety. Most professionals have an innate fear of being judged and ridiculed, and because of this, they tend to withhold many ideas which they deem to be too silly to voice. The business they work for loses out since many of these ideas aren't actually as bad as the professional may first think.
Establishing a culture that promotes psychological safety is the first step in making these employees feel welcome to share their ideas. In a safe environment, employees have no fear of being ridiculed or facing professional sanctions for their statements. But how does a business accomplish this task? To help, 15 members of Forbes Business Council suggest a few ways that companies can promote psychological safety within their workplace culture.
Members of Forbes Business Development Council offer suggestions on how employers can actively promote psychological safety in the workplace.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Engage With Consideration And Authenticity
The most effective way for managers to increase psychological safety is to engage with their teams in an authentic and considerate way. The team's lived experience is the only measurement that matters. - Shawna Coxon, Toronto Police Service
2. Don't Rush To Fix Things
Counterintuitively, one of the most powerful tools is a warm silence during discussions. Allowing people to think through their own challenges and come to their own conclusions without the voice of the leader builds capabilities and trust. Yes, leaders should speak up about anything toxic or destructive, but in general, leaders should refrain from rushing in to fix things right away. - Amanda Daering, Newance
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
3. Lead With Empathy, Not Ego
Empathy, self-awareness, direct and respectful feedback and strong communication are some keys to keeping employees confident, comfortable and safe. Skip the passive-aggressive and manipulative behaviors. Most importantly, if you want your team to go the extra mile, you cannot bully them into getting them there. Be genuine and supportive. Lead with empathy and not your ego. - Elissa Baker, Phase2 Health
4. Be Open To Feedback
I believe that any manager should be open to feedback. Healthy communication established within a team and between a team and its leader always simplifies processes, provides clearer vision of the goals, leading to better performance and higher levels of mutual trust. - Vladyslav Savchenko, Powercode
5. Build Trust By Being Transparent
One of the best ways to increase psychological safety is to be transparent. Whether it's performance feedback, organizational politics, budgets, promotions or layoffs, people like to feel heard and listened to. Transparency gives members of an organization answers to vague questions that are important and cause anxiety. Transparency builds trust. Trust builds psychological safety. - Raazi Imam, Sia Partners
6. Approach Issues From A Curious Perspective
Instead of approaching problematic behavior from a place of blame, approach it from a curious perspective. Whether it be performance issues or otherwise, it's best to face the problem with a collaborative, neutral mindset and troubleshoot solutions together. This method helps solve the issue as a team, deterring the disengagement and defensiveness you could get from a different approach. - Brittany Harrer Dolin, The Pocketbook Agency
7. Build A Culture Of Team, Not Talent
The best way to create psychological safety is to build a culture of team versus just talent. By team, I mean situations where you can trust your colleagues, be vulnerable in front of them, tell them what you're good at and not good at and pass the ball without worrying they will use it against you. However, you have to hire and evaluate people on their ability to play on a team. One talent-only person can kill culture. - Kevin Ervin Kelley, Shook Kelley
8. Build A Culture Where Mistakes Are Okay
One of the keys to psychological safety in the workplace is creating a culture where mistakes are okay. Not only are mistakes okay, they are essential and lead to growth. Make sure your team knows that you make mistakes too, that you support their efforts and that progress only comes with some risk. - Vatsal Shah, Litmus
9. Actively Listen
To increase psychological safety, managers must actively listen and must not disparage the person or their ideas. Even your tone of voice when you thank the team member for their input can impact the feeling of psychological safety if you come across as belittling the person. - Michelle Wade, Jetstream Aviation Law, P.A.
10. Create A Sense Of Belonging
Psychological safety reminds me of an inner circle. It has come up in conversations where some ask how we get on like family in business. We discuss the importance of psychological safety since according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, one feels the need to belong. I therefore consider a sense of belonging a key element of relationship building, thus more inclusion tends to work great. - Olivia Friedman, Institute of Higher Global Studies
11. Help Employees Meet Their Basic Needs
Focus on how you can help meet the basic human needs of your employees—things like certainty, growth and significance. Now more than ever, leaders and organizations have an opportunity to build loyalty and trust with employees by caring about them as a whole person. - Jaime Taets, Keystone Group International
12. Foster Support Between Co-Workers
Building psychological safety in the workplace always pays off. Let the employees feel comfortable voicing their opinions and do not fear being judged. A prolific environment is achieved by a solid team that should be able to bounce ideas around, and the employee's performance will improve if there are positive vibes around. A group of individuals that provide support to each other never fails. - Giovambattista Scuticchio Foderaro, VR CORPORATENEXT
13. Promote Openness And Inclusivity
Champion your team, and promote openness and inclusivity. Let your team know you’re supporting them in professional and personal development. Managers can implement systems and strategies that allow the team to share their thoughts and concerns through an open forum. Managers should also reward, encourage and give credit for exceptional work. - Judy Sahay, Crowd Media Group
14. Value Your Staff As Humans, Not Resources
One effective way to increase psychological safety for your teams consists of valuing humans as "individuals" instead of looking at them as "resources." By doing this, we can put our attention on their human needs by investing in employee well-being and creating an environment filled with respect, inclusion, collaboration, compassion and empathy where leaders focus on helping everyone succeed. - Andreea Vanacker, SPARKX5
15. Establish Rules Of Engagement
Establish rules of engagement for all team members as well as the organization as a whole. For example, confidentiality is a must for many teams and groups. There should be well-defined rules of confidentiality that are discussed regularly and consequences for those that don’t follow the rules. Not every aspect of the team dynamic needs rules, but just a few should be absolutes. - Paul Weber, EAG Advertising & Marketing
In fact, data from Gallup reveals that just three in 10 U.S. workers strongly agree that their opinions seem to count at work. Further, one study revealed that by moving that ratio to six in 10 employees, organizations would realize a 27% reduction in turnover.
In this article, we'll talk about what psychological safety is, why it matters, and strategies for creating it at work.
- What is psychological safety
- What does psychological safety matter
- How to measure psychological safety
- How to create psychological safety at work
What is psychological safety?
Dr. Amy Edmondson, the Harvard Business School professor who coined the term psychological safety, defines it as, "a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes."
Edmondson pointed to psychological safety as a critical factor for high-performing teams. More recently, Google's research on characteristics of high-performing teams identified psychological safety as their top indicator of the 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
- Being candid with one another
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. These teams are more likely to take initiative and consider the full picture of each situation. This in turn enables the team to innovate and find effective solutions.
Psychological safety is also critical to a team's ability to give and receive candid, respectful feedback. If your organization is looking to build a stronger feedback culture, take a look at employee perceptions of psychological safety as a starting point.
Benefits of psychological safety
When it comes to performance, creating a trusting environment is essential. The Harvard Business Review has shared multiple studies that describe psychological safety as an important factor in high-performing (and hybrid) teams, and the teams who are most effective at problem solving have been shown to share two common traits: cognitive diversity and psychological safety.
Not only does psychological safety improve your team’s performance, it also 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
- Feel accepted for who they are and the unique strengths they bring
The relationship between psychological safety and DE&I
Psychological safety is a key component of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Diverse opinions, experiences, and knowledge can be better leveraged if team members feel comfortable speaking up and are accustomed to considering alternate viewpoints. Highly inclusive teams are empowered to share their unique perspectives with each other and are better positioned to reap the benefits of having a diverse team.
How to measure psychological safety
One way to measure psychological safety in your organization is through employee surveys. However, 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.
Leverage a pulse survey template to ask the right questions about whether team members feel that they can share their opinions, take risks, and make mistakes.
When reviewing your results, focus your data analysis at the team-level, rather than within the organization overall. While it's valuable to have an understanding of the level psychological safety throughout your organization, any action that you take to improve psychological safety will be most effective within teams.
How to create psychological safety at work
Now that you know what it is, why it matters, and how to measure it—how do you transform your team environment and create psychological safety at work? Try using these nine strategies to create psychological safety at work.
1. Promote self-awareness.
To create psychological safety in the workplace, start by building self-awareness in your team. When you recognize how you prefer to think and behave, you can uncover biases that might be impacting your employees’ willingness to share their viewpoints.
Self-awareness also empowers you to understand your typical responses to changes or challenges. With this knowledge, you can adjust your emotional responses and learn to react in a way that invites open discussion.
There are multiple ways to begin building self-awareness, including using 360° reviews and assessments like the Emergenetics Profile to better understand yourself and your team.
2. Demonstrate concern for team members as people.
You may or may not be naturally inclined to ask team members how they are doing. Still, by getting into the practice of checking in with your employees, you demonstrate your concern and interest in them as people. Taking this simple action can help team members feel more comfortable speaking up because they know you appreciate their whole selves – not just their work product.
3. 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. And, count to ten in your mind before moving on. Often, internal processors may need more time to formulate their thoughts before voicing them, so train yourself to pause and encourage input.
4. Provide multiple ways for employees to share their thoughts.
While some employees may be comfortable sharing their thoughts in a meeting, others may prefer to have more time to think through their responses. Encourage team members to share feedback via email or through online collaboration tools, like Slack or Microsoft Teams, in addition to in-person discussions.
5. Show value and appreciation for ideas.
If you truly want your employees to openly share their thoughts, you must establish an environment where they feel all ideas are welcome. As you brainstorm, suspend judgement. Remember, you do not need to act on every idea; however, thanking people for their contributions and showing appreciation for their insights will go a long way in establishing psychological safety.
6. Promote positive dialogue and discussion.
Encourage team members to use positive language to inspire honest conversations. Cognitive studies have shown that affirmative language can actually motivate you to succeed. Simple word changes like using “have not yet” in place of “can’t” or “opportunity” instead of “challenge” can help your team members employ a positive mindset that empowers them to speak up without fear.
7. 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 as well as the expectations and commitments you set. Be accurate. Be realistic. And, be thoughtful. Setting clear expectations and adhering to your commitments will help employees trust you and be more open with you.
8. Explain reasons for change.
In the course of business, timelines will shift and your plans will need to adjust. Some of your team members will have an easy time transitioning while others may be thrown. 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.
9. Own up to mistakes.
Failure can be frightening, and as a leader, you can take the sting out of it for your employees by owning up to the mistakes you’ve made and celebrating failures as learnings. 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.
As a leader, the tone you set for your team has the power to make or break your employees’ success and engagement. When you employ these nine strategies to build psychological safety, you will empower your employees to share their ideas, learnings and concerns, which will spark your team’s performance.
Relationships are critical to the success, engagement, and psychological safety of individuals and teams at work. Download our ebook, The Relationship-Driven Workplace, to learn how you can build (and measure) better relationships in your workplace.