Perhaps you’ve heard about emotional safety—the feeling of trusting your partner with sharing your thoughts, fears, pain and vulnerabilities. You establish emotional safety with a loved one by demonstrating authentic interest and concern. James D. Huysman with Psychology Today does a great job in summarizing this important state: “emotional safety is a combination of willingness, courage, and action.” Similar to this feeling in the workplace is “psychological safety,” which is a critical component to creating high-functioning teams.
Psychological safety starts with a sense of “belonging.” Dr. Timothy Clark, author of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety, Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation, writes about the 4 stages that lead to an employee feeling comfortable making valuable contributions or challenging a current situation.
What is Psychological Safety?
Psychological safety is a condition in which human beings feel (1) included, (2) safe to learn, (3) safe to contribute and (4) safe to challenge the status quo—all without fear of being embarrassed, marginalized or punished in some way.
This universal pattern reflects the natural progression of human needs in social settings. When teams, organizations and social units of all kinds progress through these stages, they create deeply inclusive environments, accelerate learning, increase contribution and stimulate innovation.
Operating as a psychologically safe workplace is essential to a healthy organization; Google conducted a two-year interview around the qualities that successful teams at Google share; it’s no surprise psychological safety appeared in their findings.
Here are the five key dynamics they identified:
- Psychological safety: Feeling comfortable taking risks or asking questions without feeling embarrassed or insecure.
- Dependability: Counting on each other to reliably do high-quality work.
- Clarity: Clear roles, goals and execution plans.
- Meaning: The work has a personal level of importance to the team.
- Impact: Fundamentally believing the work you do matters.
Being a part of a team environment that is psychologically safe is a must in the secret sauce to accomplishing great things! Let’s unpack a few vital elements for those eager to be a part of creating a more accepting and creative workplace.
Trust is Key
Employees in high trust organizations are better collaborators, have more energy and suffer less chronic stress. When team members feel safe in a professional setting, they are more likely to actively participate, rather than hold back. People who have a feeling of trust experience more job satisfaction and tend to stay longer and feel happier in their position. Carolyn O’Hara for Harvard Business Review shares several valuable ways to earn trust at work. Being transparent and truthful, encouraging, competent and fair are among her recommendations.
Build Intentional Relationships
Studies show that when people intentionally build connections at work, their performance is influenced positively and their attitude is improved. In light of this information, be sure that your organization has allowed enough margin in the workday and workweek for those bonds to form.
Team building, both virtual and in-person, is essential when it comes to making these connections. “Mandatory fun” is helpful in the bonding process. Team activities such as seasonal field trips (think apple picking in the fall or a lake cruise in the summer) can be especially helpful. Outings are so beneficial because they put employees in an entirely new setting and take the focus away from big projects and office demands.
Healthy Communication
Thoughtful, constructive feedback is always welcome, both from team members and leadership. Kristin Ryba for Quantum Workplace writes, “a strong feedback culture welcomes feedback and uses it to foster the growth of individuals, teams, and the organization.”
Examples include one-on-one meetings, formal recognition programs and annual employee surveys. Managers are intentional about giving thoughtful, constructive feedback with actionable steps to improve performance. Body language, tone of voice and delivery of information all go hand in hand (the Achievers blog has several examples that may serve as a starting point).
Bigger Purpose
Along with offsite team activities that are designed to deliver a dose of fun and lighten everyday office pressure, when employees volunteer together, they strengthen their relationships. Studies show that volunteering boosts employee morale and improves the workplace environment. Volunteering initiatives also have a way of attracting top talent since social responsibility is often one of their core values.
It Takes a Village
Professionals on the team—and the organization as a whole—succeed when companies adopt a growth mindset. Developing talent through careful planning (which includes work-life balance considerations), healthy communication, volunteer opportunities and a dose of recreation signals an investment in the whole person as well as a consideration for the community as a whole.
For more information, check out The Protocol School of Texas. Another article that may interest you: The Benefits of Team Building in the Office. For more of Diane’s etiquette tips, read her posts on Inc., subscribe to her articles on The Huffington Post, “like” The Protocol School of Texas on Facebook, and follow her on Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.
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