Psychological safety involves the faith of not getting penalized when one makes a mistake. According to the Head of Industry at Googles, Paul Santagata, no team could be built without trust. Psychological safety includes minor risk-taking behavior, freedom of keeping an opinion, and nurturing creativity.
Ancient studies reveal the motive of psychological safety. In an unpredictable and interdependent environment, this is both extremely delicate and crucial, leading to success. Usually, when our brain receives a command from the boss, it provokes the typical fight-or-flight response. This response ceases further logical and perspective reasoning, and quite precisely, we lose our strategic thinking abilities, which are absolutely needed in present work environments.
In the modern world, the work environment follows a liberal method of creating trust, inquisitiveness, confidence, and positive emotion, allowing the employees to decipher complicated issues and nurture cooperative relationships. This method of building psychological safety helps to widen the mental horizon and to become more liberal, energetic, enthusiastic, and motivated. It also enhances cooperation, humor, and divergent and creative thinking ability when the workplace ceases to appear threatening and seems like a challenging zone, productivity, and performance foster.
There are few guidance tips to create a psychological safety work zone.
- Accepting Conflict as a Collaborator Not as an Adversary: When Conflict arises, we tend to think of it as an adversary. Business owners and company leads emphasize group discussions to mutually determine the desired outcome instead of triggering a fight-or-flight reaction.
- Understanding and Converse: Lending an ear to team members’ difficulties and understanding their perspective plays an essential role in maintaining psychological safety. Recognizing the employees’ attitudes and vulnerabilities and appreciating their competence provokes positive behavior and trust.
- Plan countermoves by predicting consequences: Preparing yourself in advance regarding the outcomes, help ensure quick and organized countermoves. Positioning yourself on the opposite side, and skillfully raising various conversations head-on, formulates for appropriate reactions. It also uncovers your strengths, vulnerabilities, and shortcomings and allows for rethinking. ,
- Blame Must be Supplanted by Curiosity: In the University of Washington, John Gottman revealed his research, which exhibits how blame and criticism provoke Conflict, which further leads to defensiveness, eventually turning into disengagement. Hence, it is advised to replace guilt with curiosity. Having a liberal mindset encourages eagerness and curiosity.
Expressing the problematic behavior as an observation, using neutral language, and facilitating for mutual decisions, are the most thoughtful methods.
Asking your team members for remedies helps flourish responsible behavior and freedom of stating opinions.
- Implore Feedback on Deliveries: Once the delivery is done, indulge in asking for feedback. This method disarms the opponent team members and boosts trust in leaders. Imploring the questions regarding what worked or didn’t work in the delivery or how the efficiency can be enhanced enables me to communicate the challenges and look forward to finding the solutions.
- Regulating psychological safety measures: According to Santagata, a periodical discussion with the team regarding the psychological safety measures boosts the trust and bonding. This incites motivation and engagement. It also helps to address complicated scenarios is an appropriate way, leading to quick progress and improved performances.
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