In our current socially driven world, you would not think humans have an issue speaking up and sharing their opinions.
Though being a ‘keyboard’ anonymous warrior is vastly different from an employee in a large organisation feeling uncertain and potentially experiencing, for the first time, a lack of psychological safety at work.
Since the pandemic changed the work landscape, more attention has been given to the visible aspects of WFH, including the challenges of managing people from a distance, reduced trust, and a shift in dynamics.
But a far less visible factor may dramatically influence the effectiveness of hybrid workplaces. Arranging future work coordination and attending to employees’ anxieties about what is happening will require managers to rethink and expand one of the strongest proven predictors of team effectiveness: how safe people feel.
This may have a cultural driver or a lack of genuine interaction exacerbated by remote working; however, psychological safety is a topic for discussion on the leadership agenda and one I want to explore today.
Let us start with a definition.
A Definition of Psychological Safety at Work
Psychological safety is believing you will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.
When it comes to the workplace, it is a shared belief held by team members that others on the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish them for speaking up.
When employees feel comfortable asking for help, sharing suggestions informally, or challenging the status quo without fear of negative social consequences, organisations are more likely to innovate quickly, unlock the benefits of diversity, and adapt well to change, according to a McKinsey report published last year.
Why Psychological Safety At Work Matters
Psychological safety at work has major business repercussions, especially when lacking. When people feel uncomfortable discussing initiatives that are not working, the organisation can fall headlong into failure.
Consequently, when employees are not fully committed, the organisation loses an opportunity to use the strengths of all its talented employees.
According to Dr Amy Edmondson, a recognised expert on psychological safety and author of The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace, people must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions out of the left field, and brainstorm out loud to create a culture that truly innovates.
Psychological safety has been well proven as a critical driver of high-quality decision-making, healthy group dynamics and interpersonal relationships, greater innovation, and more effective execution in companies of every size.
Simple as it may be to understand, Amy’s work has shown how hard it is to set up and maintain psychological safety even in the most straightforward, factual, and critical contexts.
For example, ensuring that operating room staff speaks up to avoid the wrong knee being operated on or that a CEO is corrected before sharing inaccurate data in a public meeting (both are real-life psychological safety failure examples reported in interviews).
Unfortunately, WFH and hybrid working make psychological safety anything but straightforward. Layer over the number of employees experiencing well-being issues or burnout who do not speak up. It is logical why psychological safety is making its way to the leadership agenda of what else needs to be managed.
How Leaders Can Support Psychological Safety
These may seem simple actions, but in practice, they extend to every level of leadership and communication. I have listed the core behaviours below; thanks to Amy Edmondson for sharing these in her extensive body of work on this subject.
Work delivers a learning problem, not an execution problem.
Everything is an experiment. The outcome of work should not exclusively be the output; it must also be learning how to do it better next time.
Acknowledge your own fallibility
Admitting when you make a mistake or do not know the answer allows and encourages others to do the same.
Model curiosity and ask questions
Stay curious, ask other people what they think, and ask them to contribute. By asking questions and asking for help, you are creating a space and a need for people to speak up, which is essential for psychological safety and high-performing teams.
Until next time,
Julia
About Zestfor
Zestfor specialises in developing leadership Training programs and resources scientifically tailored for technical markets – including Pharmaceutical, I.T., and Life Sciences.
Our blend of in-classroom, online, and virtual live-stream delivery methods will engage and assure even the most introverted team members from the first meeting. Let us arrange a brief chat; call us at 0845 548 0833.
