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Psychological Safety
- 1. Psychological Safety: An Important Component for Safety in the Workplace Karen Allard Paula Allen
- 2. 2 Session Overview • Psychological safety has been referred to as the single most important characteristic for successful teams and leads to decrease in turnover and increases in effectiveness. • Psychological safety is the belief that your environment is safe for interpersonal risk- taking meaning that asking questions, pointing out problems, and suggesting innovation will be responded to in a respectful manner.
- 3. 3 Objectives This presentation will cover: • what psychological safety is, • why it’s important, • challenges to creating • how to assess its presence, • tips on how to grow this in your workplace. Why? Psychological safety has been referred to as the single most important characteristic for successful teams and leads to decrease in turnover and increases in effectiveness.
- 4. 4 Definition of Psychological Safety A belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks: that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. • Anyone can ask questions without looking stupid. • Anyone can ask for feedback without looking incompetent. • Anyone can be respectfully critical without appearing negative. • Anyone can suggest innovative ideas without being perceived as disruptive.
- 5. 5 The history of Psychological Safety 1960’s Schein and Bennis: “a person’s anxiety about being basically accepted and worthwhile" Deming: “Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company” 1990’s Kahn: “employ or express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally” Edmondson: Discovered that teams with better outcomes were admitting more mistakes while teams with fewer good outcomes were more likely to hide mistakes
- 6. 6 Importance of Psychological Safety “The growing body of knowledge on psychological safety in the workplace has flourished in recent years, as organizations devote more resources and time to deepen the understanding of the factor role in driving effectiveness. “ “Psychological Safety… - is one of the key factors contributing to better performance of organizations - stimulates work engagement - promotes a knowledge-sharing environment - positively impacts job satisfaction”
- 7. 7 Importance of Psychological Safety A 2017 Gallup poll revealed that just three in 10 U.S. workers strongly agree that at work, their opinions seem to count. However, by moving that ratio to six in 10 employees, organizations could realize a 27% reduction in turnover, a 40% reduction in safety incidents and a 12% increase in productivity. Other research has shown greater return on assets, innovation in R & D teams, increases in manufacturing process innovation performance, higher goal achievement, and increases in successful implementation of new technology. Google’s research on characteristics of high-performing teams identified psychological safety as their top indicator of the performance of a team
- 8. 8
- 9. 9 Organizational Challenges for Psychological Safety Unequal power distribution and status Negative consequences for honest mistakes Unwillingness of leaders to consider the opinions of employees
- 10. 10 Personal Challenges for Psychological Safety
- 11. 11 How to assess Psychological Safety • If you make a mistake on your team, is it held against you? • Are you able to bring up problems and tough issues? • Do people on the team sometimes reject others for being different? • Is it safe to take a risk? • Is it difficult to ask other team members for help? • Do people on the team deliberately act to undermine your efforts? • Are your unique skills and talents valued and utilized? Suggest this as Survey Monkey or annual survey
- 12. 12 How to grow Psychological Safety Setting the Stage Inviting Participation Responding Productively Leadership Tasks Frame the Work • Set expectations about failure, uncertainty, and interdependence to clarify the need for voice Emphasize Purpose • Identify what’s at stake, why it matters, and for whom it matters Demonstrate Situational Humility • Acknowledge gaps Practice Inquiry • Ask good questions • Model intense listening Set Up Structures and Processes • Create forums for input • Provide guidelines for discussion Express Appreciation • Listen • Acknowledge and thank Destigmatize Failure • Look forward • Offer help • Discuss, consider, and brainstorm next steps Sanction Clear Violations Accomplishes Shared expectations and meaning Confidence that voice is welcome Orientation toward continuous learning
- 14. 14 Team Members and Psychological Safety Agree to share failures, recognizing that mistakes are an opportunity to learn and grow Ask for help and freely give help when asked Embrace expertise among many versus a single “hero mentality” Encourage and express gratitude which reinforces team members sense of self Ask powerful open-ended questions then listen actively and intently to understand
- 15. 15 Bellin’s commitment to Psychological Safety Civilitas – a team whose work encompasses how to spread and encourage psychological safety through discussion. Utilize a monthly video and questions to spark conversation. Include in new leader orientation. Culture of Safety results include elements of psychological safety. Pulse survey incorporating the specific seven questions was administered in June. Will incorporate the psychological safety questions into the next combined Culture of Safety/Employee Engagement survey. Weaving this in to the entire patient safety program we are designing.
- 16. 16 Example of Psychological Safety work - Civilitas
- 17. 17 Questions?
- 18. 18 Reference Page • Aranzamendez, G., James, D., & Toms, R. (2015, July). Finding antecedents of psychological safety: A step toward quality improvement. In Nursing forum (Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 171-178). • Atlanta Small Business Network. (2021). How to Create Psychological Safety for Your Small Business. Retrieved from: https://www.myasbn.com/small-business/culture/how- to-create-psychological-safety-for-your-small-business-staff/ • Center for Creative Leadership. (2021). What is Psychological Safety at Work? Retrieved from: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/what-is-psychological- safety-at-work/ • Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. John Wiley & Sons. • Edmondson, A. (2014). Building a psychologically safe workplace [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8 • Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative science quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. • Frankel, A., Haraden, C., Federico, F., & Lenoci-Edwards, J. (2017). A framework for safe, reliable, and effective care. Cambridge: Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Safe & Reliable Healthcare. • Geraghty, T. (2021). Psychological Safety – History, Concepts and Application. Retrieved from: https://www.psychsafety.co.uk/about-psychological-safety/ • Herway, J. (2017). How to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety. Retrieved from: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236198/create-culture-psychological-safety.aspx • Newman, Dohohue, and Eva. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review. • Obrenovic, B., Jianguo, D., Khudaykulov, A., & Khan, M. A. S. (2020). Work-family conflict impact on psychological safety and psychological well-being: A job performance model. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 475. • Tocco, S., & DeFontes, J. (2014). Managing our fears to improve patient safety. Am Nurse Today, 9, 34-36.
Editor's Notes
- Edmondson’s 1999 paper “Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams” has been cited almost 10,000 times according to Google Scholar. That means that a multitude of other researchers have cited her work!
- There are multiple other studies that show a connection between high psychological safety and greater engagement by staff, more openness to learning from failure, have fewer workarounds, more engaged in their work, increased job performance
- Stupid/Ignorant – don’t ask about things you aren’t sure of and risk not following the correct steps or technique Incompetent – don’t ask for feedback but also don’t report mistakes or near-misses. This negatively affects organizational learning which could lead to systemic changes that improve the company Negative – also don’t give honest feedback on individual and team performance appraisals. E.g. sees ways to improve the work process but don’t want to criticize the current state. Disruptive – don’t question things that seem out of place even though something seems off because you don’t want to put the schedule behind
- Setting the Stage: Adding meaning to the work; why is the work we do so profoundly important. People’s lives depend on it, for example. You might think that’s obvious and doesn’t need to be said but it helps remind us of what’s at stake and why it’s important it brings us back to why we’re here, why we’re doing this. It brings us in a sense away from that need to manage other’s impressions of us and back to the actual work that we do. If I, as a leader, remind you the nature of the work, the riskiness of the work that we do, it just creates a kind of invitation for you to take it seriously and bring your full self to work. Invite participation: Model fallibility and invite input – I may miss something so I need your input. Responding Productively – embrace the messenger. Thank people when they speak up or offer ideas or identify a process failure. Thank them, acknowledge there concern and close the loop with follow up.
- Create a culture of inclusion and empathy. A psychologically safe environment means showing each employee that he or she is valued and wanted. Show by words and deeds an invitation and appreciation for other’s contributions. Establish a culture and work environment where people are free to admit mistakes and discuss difficult situations. Be clear that making mistakes is part of the learning process; everyone makes them, and it is how you deal with them that makes a difference. Do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful behavior. Build trust through communication. Ask for feedback to ensure you are meeting their needs. Lead by example and listen to your employees Make psychological safety an explicit priority. Talk about the importance of creating psychological safety at work, connecting it to a higher purpose of promoting greater organizational innovation, team engagement, and a sense of inclusion. Model the behaviors you want to see and set the stage by showing empathy in the workplace. 2. Facilitate everyone speaking up. Show genuine curiosity and honor candor and truth-telling. Be open-minded, compassionate, and empathetic when someone is brave enough to say something challenging the status quo. Organizations with a coaching culture will more likely have team members with the courage to speak the truth. 3. Establish norms for how failure is handled. Don’t punish experimentation and (reasonable) risk-taking. Encourage learning from failure and disappointment, and openly share your hard-won lessons learned from mistakes. Doing so will help encourage innovation, instead of sabotaging it. 4. Create space for new ideas (even wild ones). When challenging an idea, provide the challenge in the larger context of support. Consider whether you only want ideas that have been thoroughly tested, or whether you’re willing to accept highly creative, out-of-the-box ideas that are not yet well-formulated. Learn how to embrace new ideas to foster more innovative mindsets on your team. 5. Embrace productive conflict. Promote dialogue and productive debate, and work to resolve conflicts productively. Leaders can set the stage for incremental change by establishing team expectations for factors that contribute to psychological safety. With your team, discuss the following questions: How will team members communicate their concerns about a process that isn’t working? How can reservations be shared with colleagues in a respectful manner? What are our norms for managing conflicting perspectives?
- While leaders play a role in shaping their team’s culture, it’s up to each team member to contribute to a psychologically safe climate at work, too. “A culture is simplistically defined by ‘the way we do things around here,’” says Altman. “We all have a role to play in how we do things at work — both on our team and in our organization.”