Why Won’t They Speak Up?
Perhaps you've heard the term "Psychological Safety" and wonder what makes it important.
Or you've heard the term and mistakenly believe it's about coddling those you lead.
Or you've haven't heard the term and are curious to know more.
Whatever the case for you, let's dive in and learn more.
Psychological safety is a term coined by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson.
According to Edmondson, psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that it’s OK to take risks, to express ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes — all without fear of negative consequences.
The results are remarkable.
More collaboration as teams are freer to share information and learn from one another.
Better quality decision making as people are more comfortable speaking up with a wider range of ideas and opinions.
Continuous improvement in processes and outcomes as team members are free to share their mistakes and what they learned from them.
The Challenge
Your questions bring crickets.
Unexpected errors turn up.
Team members are talking around rather than to each other.
You're puzzled about the performance of a reliable team member and later it's discovered . . .
You learn that a key team member was hesitant to try something different fearing what would happen if it didn't work.
Your new team member is so quiet it concerns you.
The Remedy
Assess the current perception of psychological safety in your organization.
Edmondson has developed a 7 item questionnaire to help with this.
Get the questions here: What is Psychological Safety?
Access a low cost anonymous assessment instrument here: PSI Anonymous Team and Organization Scan
Set norms by sharing why their voices are important.
The importance of diverse perspectives.
The importance of questions and asking for help.
How talking about mistakes leads to learning.
How their input will affect the outcomes of the work.
Model Vulnerability.
Share examples of learning from your own mistakes.
Apologize when your mistake has unintended impact.
Ask for feedback.
Be willing to take risks yourself.Ask for Input.
What are you seeing?
What are your thoughts?
What were your expectations?
What have you learned?
What does success look like?
Respond Affirmatively.
Show genuine appreciation for any and all input.
Ask follow-up questions without judging the idea. (How would that work?)
Use the phrase "say more" often.
The Truth
Psychological safety isn't about being nice. Many "nice" work environments are only that way on the surface.
Psychological safety isn't about always being comfortable. Learning and pointing out mistakes isn't always comfortable.
Psychological safety IS about creating a safe environment in which to take risks, to speak with caring candor and learn from mistakes without negative consequences and with dignity.
And here's the big one -
Passionate leaders get that Psychological Safety will sustain more successful teams and organizations.
_______________________
Passionate Leadership
is who you're being as you're leading.
About the Author
Gayle Ely is a Leadership Coach, Trainer and Facilitator and founder of Total Life Leadership. At Total Life Leadership, we partner with purpose-driven non-profit leaders and service entrepreneurs to help them answer the question “How Do I Become a Better Leader?”
Using The Six Pillars of Passionate Leadership, we equip leaders to be the best they can be. The result is a passionate leader whose team and organization are operating for maximum impact.
Explore what’s getting in the way of passion in your leadership. Schedule an exploratory conversation. There is no cost and lots of value.
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