Psychological safety – is that my job?
Psychological safety, according to tech giant Google, is the most important aspect of workplace culture leaders need to nurture to create high performing teams.
It’s the belief that employees have that they will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. As a leader it can be daunting to carry the responsibility of creating and promoting a psychologically safe workplace. The good news is you don’t have to be a psychologist to be a good leader. You can, however, learn how psychology influences your team and how to foster an environment where your team flourish.
Psychological safety in a VUCA world
“In a world where VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) are the norm, leaders must be able to create an environment where their team are enabled to speak,” says Scott Bolland, facilitator for PACE’s upcoming psychological safety masterclass.
“More than ever, leaders need to increase engagement and encourage creativity, problem solving and productivity. But creating this organisational culture isn’t an innate skill for every leader.
“It’s a ‘soft’ and somewhat elusive skill that can seem worlds away from business strategies and bottom lines.
“Taking the time to learn about psychological safety can add some science to the sorcery and arm leaders with tangible strategies that link to high performance outcomes.”
What’s my KPI?
“As business leaders, we like to set objectives and measure results,” Scott says. “We want a clear goal, and we want to see the path we will take to achieve it.”
In the masterclass, Scott will share a range of tools specifically designed to measure psychological safety in your workplace, as well as tools for eliciting psychological safety in your team, at an individual level and as an organisation.
The tools are evidence-based, and they’re used by high-performing organisations all over the world.
OK, what do I have to do?
Join our two-hour online masterclass on Thursday, 3 November, for an introduction to the principles of psychological safety.
The session will:
- explore the background science of psychological safety, and why it is important for high-performance teamwork
- examine tools for measuring psychological safety in the workplace
- explore common reasons why cultivating psychological safety can be challenging
- explore practical tools and techniques for cultivating psychological safety, and overcoming common challenges
- develop a practical personalised action plan for better fostering psychological safety in your personal context
Find out more in our psychological safety masterclass offered by PACE.