When workplace psychological safety is present, people feel comfortable bringing their full, authentic selves to work and are okay with \u201claying themselves on the line\u201d in front of others. And organizations with psychologically safe work environments \u2014 where employees feel free to ask bold questions, share concerns, ask for help, and take calculated risks \u2014 are all the better for it.<\/p>\n
In fact, in a research study<\/a> we conducted of nearly 300 leaders over 2.5 years, we found that teams with high degrees of psychological safety reported higher levels of performance and lower levels of interpersonal conflict.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that not all team members hold the same perceptions, though. The stakes are particularly high for senior leadership teams, where our research found members reported the greatest differences in their perceived levels of psychological safety at work \u2014 62% of senior teams in our sample demonstrated significant variability around their team\u2019s psychological safety. This has real business repercussions; when innovative ideas go unsaid, creative problem solving is squashed, and teams fail to collaborate and innovate together to their full potential.<\/p>\n Psychological safety at work is not just a \u201cnice to have;\u201d it impacts the organization\u2019s bottom line.<\/strong> Having a higher level of consistent psychological safety helps to unlock the contributions of all talent in the enterprise and ensures the organization is better equipped to prevent failure.<\/p>\n Research has repeatedly found that organizations benefit from diversity of thought, and groups of people with different life experiences are better able to recognize problems and offer up creative solutions than groups with similar life experiences.<\/p>\n But what if some team members don\u2019t feel comfortable speaking up? What if they\u2019re afraid to share their perspective, raise concerns, or asking challenging questions? What if they avoid suggesting new and innovative ideas because they\u2019re worried about the repercussions?<\/p>\n Unfortunately, many people feel this way about their workplace. According to a 2019 Gallup poll<\/a>, just 3 out of 10 employees strongly agreed that their opinions count at work.<\/p>\n It can be especially challenging for members of social identity groups<\/a>\u00a0that are often marginalized by society to feel high levels of psychological safety in the workplace. For example, a\u00a0recent survey from Catalyst<\/a> found that nearly half of female business leaders face difficulties speaking up in virtual meetings, and 1 in 5 reported feeling overlooked or ignored during video calls. Those who are members of historically underrepresented groups may feel this reality even more keenly.<\/p>\n Colleagues who feel their work environment is<\/em> psychologically safe are more willing to engage in interpersonal risk-taking behaviors that contribute to greater organizational innovation<\/strong> \u2014 like speaking up, asking questions, sharing unspoken reservations, and respectfully disagreeing. This ultimately yields a more robust, dynamic, innovative, and inclusive organizational culture.<\/p>\n In contrast, when psychological safety at work is low and people are uncomfortable raising concerns, initiatives that aren\u2019t working move forward anyway, the organization isn\u2019t equipped to prevent failure, and talent begins to disengage. When employees aren\u2019t fully committed to shared organizational success, ideas aren\u2019t stress-tested, processes aren\u2019t optimized, solutions aren\u2019t vetted, and the enterprise has lost an opportunity to leverage the contributions of all its talent.<\/p>\n The rise of the hybrid workplace<\/a> and virtual work arrangements since the pandemic have made psychological safety at work more complex for leaders today. It can be harder to build a psychologically safe \u201cworkplace\u201d\u00a0when employees are not all co-located, and many are working remotely.<\/p>\n After all, how do you establish trust when interpersonal conversations have to be scheduled in advance, and many are conducted through a screen? Yet leading remote teams may give leaders a unique opportunity to forge connections and increase psychological safety<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if<\/em>\u00a0they\u2019re paying attention.<\/p>\n In an on-camera virtual meeting, you can look intently at people, perhaps more so than you could in person. (In many cultures, it can be awkward to stare at someone for 30 seconds or minutes at a time.) But on videoconferences, no one knows who you\u2019re looking at, so you can watch the speaker closely \u2014 absorbing not just their words, but also their emotions and values. Leaders can seize this opportunity to explore authentic communication in virtual settings through the power of listening<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plus, many people feel more comfortable typing vulnerable statements through a screen (for example, into a meeting chat) than they would speaking in person. In those settings, they may appreciate a chance to spend a little more time thinking through how they want to convey information to maximize impact. Leaders can show respect for those courageous enough to share their honest thoughts \u2014 again, recognizing the vulnerability required to do so, and responding with appreciation.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how leaders can help create a more psychologically safe workplace.<\/p>\n Talk with your team about the importance of creating psychological safety at work.<\/strong> Connect it to a higher purpose of greater organizational innovation, team engagement, and inclusion. Ask for help when you need it, and freely give help when asked. Model the behaviors you want to see, and set the stage by using inclusive leadership practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n Show genuine curiosity,<\/strong> and honor frankness and truth-telling. Be an open-minded, compassionate leader<\/a>, and willing to listen when someone is brave enough to say something challenging the status quo. Organizations with a\u00a0coaching culture will more likely have team members with the courage to speak the truth<\/a>.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t punish experimentation and (reasonable) risk-taking.<\/strong> Show recognition that mistakes are an opportunity for growth. Encourage learning from failure and disappointment, and openly share your hard-won lessons learned from mistakes. This will\u00a0help encourage innovation, instead of sabotaging it<\/a>. Use candor when expressing disappointment (and appreciation).<\/p>\n Provide any challenge within the larger context of support. <\/strong>Consider whether you only want ideas that have been thoroughly tested, or whether you\u2019re willing to accept highly creative, out-of-the-box ideas that are not yet well-formulated. It\u2019s fine to ask the tough questions; but do so while always being supportive at the same time. Learn more about\u00a0how to foster more innovative mindsets<\/a>\u00a0on your team.<\/p>\n Promote sincere dialogue and constructive debate,<\/strong> and work to\u00a0resolve conflicts productively<\/a>. Set the stage for incremental change by establishing team expectations for factors that contribute to psychological safety. With your team, discuss the following questions:<\/p>\n Focus on team members\u2019 perceived patterns of psychological safety<\/strong>, not just the overall level. Do some members experience significantly more or less psychological safety than others, or is the level fairly even across the team?<\/p>\n Promote skill at giving and receiving feedback, and create space for people to raise concerns.<\/strong> Ask colleagues powerful, open-ended questions, and then listen actively<\/a> and intently to understand their feelings and values, as well as facts. Provide opportunities to learn how to share constructive feedback to one another and what respectful responses look like.<\/p>\n You may want to consider investments in strengthening the quality of conversations across the organization, because quite literally, better conversations will lead to a better culture<\/a>. Improved skill at feedback conversations, combined with a psychologically safe work environment, will yield colleagues who are more willing to share unspoken reservations with one another and propose solutions that are more rigorously stress-tested before implementation.<\/p>\n Notice and acknowledge\u00a0what\u2019s going well.<\/strong> Positive interactions and conversations between individuals are built on trust and mutual respect. So share credit and embrace expertise among many, and the success of the collective, versus a single \u201chero\u201d mentality.<\/p>\n Celebrate what\u2019s going well, however small, and appreciate people\u2019s efforts. Encouraging and expressing gratitude<\/a> reinforces your team members\u2019 sense of self. Give your team members the benefit of the doubt when they take a risk, ask for help, or admit a mistake. In turn, trust that they will do the same for you.<\/p>\n As organizations build greater psychological safety, 4 recognizable stages emerge.<\/p>\n A psychologically safe workplace begins with a feeling of belonging.<\/strong> Like Maslow\u2019s hierarchy of basic needs, employees must feel accepted before they\u2019re able to contribute fully in ways that improve their organizations.<\/p>\n According to Dr. Timothy Clark, author of\u00a0The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation<\/em>, employees have to progress through the following 4 stages before they feel free to make valuable contributions and challenge the status quo.<\/p>\n Inclusion safety satisfies the basic human need to connect and belong. In this stage, you feel safe to be yourself and are accepted for who you are, including your unique attributes and defining characteristics.<\/p>\n Learner safety satisfies the need to learn and grow. In this stage, you feel safe to exchange in the learning process by asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting, and making mistakes.<\/p>\n Contributor safety satisfies the need to make a difference. You feel safe to use your skills and abilities to make a meaningful contribution.<\/p>\n Challenger safety satisfies the need to make things better. You feel safe to speak up and challenge the status quo when you think there\u2019s an opportunity to change or improve.<\/p>\n To help employees move through the 4 stages and ultimately land in a place where they feel comfortable with interpersonal risk-taking and speaking up, leaders should nurture and promote their team\u2019s sense of psychological safety in the workplace.<\/p>\n When a team or organizational climate is characterized by interpersonal trust, respect, and a sense of belonging at work<\/a>, members feel free to collaborate and they feel safe taking risks, which ultimately enables them to\u00a0drive innovation<\/a>\u00a0more effectively.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s leaders need the ability to address complex challenges in new and innovative ways. Strengthen your organizational culture and help your teams\u00a0establish a climate of trust and psychological safety at work<\/strong> using our research-based topic modules<\/a>.<\/p>\n Available leadership topics include Collaboration & Teamwork, Communication, Emotional Intelligence & Empathy, Listening to Understand, Psychological Safety & Trust<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\nThe Importance of Psychological Safety in the Workplace<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nWhy Psychological Safety in the Workplace Matters Now More Than Ever<\/h2>\n
8 Steps Toward Creating More Psychological Safety at Work<\/h2>\n
Our Tips for Leaders<\/h3>\n
1. Make psychological safety an explicit priority.<\/h4>\n
2. Facilitate everyone speaking up.<\/h4>\n
3. Establish norms for how failure is handled.<\/h4>\n
4. Create space for new ideas (even wild ones).<\/h4>\n
5. Embrace productive conflict.<\/h4>\n
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6. Pay close attention and look for patterns.<\/h4>\n
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7. Make an intentional effort to promote dialogue.<\/h4>\n
8. Celebrate wins.<\/h4>\n
The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety<\/h2>\n
Has Your Organization Moved Through Each Phase?<\/h3>\n
Stage 1 \u2014 Inclusion Safety<\/h4>\n
Stage 2 \u2014 Learner Safety<\/h4>\n
Stage 3 \u2014 Contributor Safety<\/h4>\n
Stage 4 \u2014 Challenger Safety<\/h4>\n
Create Psychological Safety in the Workplace at Your Organization<\/h3>\n