12 Aug Spill the Tea on Psychological Safety: 

Does Your Team Pass the Vibe Check?

Every time I talk about teams and organisations, the importance of creating a safe space always comes to mind. This concept inspired my postgraduate studies in Organisational Development, driven by a desire to help transform organisations into places where employees genuinely want to work – environments where they can be human, not machines. 

Which brings me to this week’s topic, psychological safety. I’m not talking about overhauling the entire company culture overnight. Instead, let’s start right where you are – in your team, because big changes start small, and your team could be the spark that ignites a revolution of openness and trust.

What’s the deal with psychological safety?

Amy Edmondson, the guru of psychological safety research, defines it as:

“A belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.”

In other words, it’s about creating a team vibe where everyone feels comfortable being themselves. Where you can ask those “silly” questions, share wild ideas, or admit to messing up without fear of being laughed at or shown the door.

While fostering psychological safety is crucial, it’s important to be wary of pseudo-psychological safety, where individuals misinterpret the concept as a license to say or do anything without consideration for others, potentially leading to harmful behaviour or toxic team dynamics. True psychological safety is not about removing all boundaries or accountability, but rather creating an environment where constructive dialogue, respectful disagreement, and ethical behaviour are encouraged. It’s essential to strike a balance between openness and responsibility, ensuring that psychological safety doesn’t become a shield for inappropriate conduct or a means to silence legitimate concerns. Leaders and team members alike should be mindful of this distinction, promoting a culture that values both truthfulness and mutual respect.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: 

Let’s paint a picture of what this looks like in your average workday:

The good

Picture this:

• Piet pitches a wild idea in your team meeting. Instead of eye-rolls and deep sighs, he gets curious questions and builds on his concept.
• Rajesh admits he botched a part of the project. The team’s response? “How can we fix this together?”
• New team member Palesa asks what seems like a basic question, and you all thank her for speaking up.

The bad

Now, the flip side:

• Every time someone speaks up in your team, they’re cut off, dismissed politely told “that’s not priority right now”.
• Mistakes are met with blame-storming sessions or passive-aggressive messages.
• “That’s not how we do things here” is your team’s unofficial motto.

Why Should You Care: Recent Research

You might be thinking, “Sure, being nice is great and all, but we’ve got work to do!” Well, psychological safety isn’t just about warm fuzzies – it’s about serious performance gains. Let’s geek out for a moment with some findings about the impact of psychological safety on various aspects of organisational success:

1.  Innovation and performance: According to a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology (2021) found that teams with high psychological safety were more likely to innovate and perform better overall. This indicates the direct link between psychological safety and business outcomes.

2.  Employee engagement and retention: In 2022 the Gallup report stated that employees who feel psychologically safe at work are 76% more engaged and 50% more likely to stay with their organisation, which demonstrates the crucial role of psychological safety in reducing turnover and keeping a committed workforce. 

3.  Diversity and inclusion: Research published in the Harvard Business Review (2020) indicated that psychological safety is an important factor in creating truly inclusive workplaces where diverse perspectives are valued and leveraged, leading to better decision-making and more creativity in problem-solving.

4.  Mental health and wellbeing: A 2019 study in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that employees in psychologically safe environments reported lower levels of stress and burnout, and higher levels of job satisfaction. This underscores the importance of psychological safety for employee well-being.

5.  Customer satisfaction: A 2020 study in the Journal of Service Research found a positive correlation between team psychological safety and customer satisfaction ratings. Teams that felt safe expressing ideas and concerns were better equipped to meet customer needs.

Beyond these key areas, a number of studies show that psychological safety boosts knowledge sharing, adaptability to change, and learning from failures. These benefits make psychological safety essential for the overall organisational success.

The Collective Effort of Psychological Safety 

Creating psychological safety in a team is a collaborative effort that extends beyond the responsibility of just the team leader. While leaders set the tone, every team member plays a crucial role in fostering a psychologically safe environment. 

To cultivate psychological safety, both leaders and team members can:

·  Demonstrate vulnerability

·  Encourage curiosity

·  Frame challenges as growth opportunities

·  Practise active listening

·  Constructively address failures

·  Speak up about issues

·  Support risk-taking colleagues and provide constructive feedback

·  Recognise instances of psychological safety and act accordingly 

Small Steps, Big Impact

Remember, building psychological safety in your team is a journey, not a destination. It takes time and consistent effort. But the payoff? A team that innovates, collaborates, and delivers results.

You can start small, by speaking up in your next team meeting or backing up a colleague’s idea. These little actions can create a ripple effect, potentially influencing other teams and, eventually, the whole company culture.

A great start to fostering psychological safety in your team is our Teams that Talk, a team development programme that offers deep insight into team culture, values, and barriers, empowering the team with a deeper understanding of themselves and each other. It highlights potential avenues for growth and development, allowing for a strategic approach to essential challenges. Teams that Talk enables team members to become aware of their impact on each other and the organisation, understand how others experience them, and recognising the culture they are ‘authoring’. Using tools like the Enneagram, we facilitate this journey towards creating a more cohesive and effective team dynamic and psychological safety comes as a byproduct.

If you can spot the red flags or want to nip them in the bud before they mushroom, talk to us. You might just be taking the first step towards more psychologically safe and successful teams and organisations.