In an effort to find what made some teams better performers than others, Google took a look at the difference between high-performing teams and underperforming teams. After analyzing data from more than 180 teams as a part of Project Aristotle, Google found that psychological safety was the most significant factor in high-performing teams.
They found that teams with high levels of psychological safety were more likely to:
- Catch or admit mistakes early
- Integrate diverse ideas and perspectives
- Come up with innovative ideas
- Take risks
- Experience better productivity
Other studies corroborate. Research shows that psychological safety is a critical component in employee happiness and innovation, including:
- Job satisfaction
- Organizational loyalty
- Individual performance
- Employee engagement
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Engage in learning behaviors such as asking for feedback
- Sharing information
- Experiment with new ideas
The data stands out. If you want your team to perform, find fulfillment, and innovate, you must prioritize psychological safety.
What is psychological safety?
Psychological safety has become a cornerstone for high-performing teams. Coined by Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, psychological safety is defined as a belief that a team member will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or pointing out mistakes.
Psychological safety is very much a perception. You can’t tell your team they’re safe. It’s something they have to believe. Leaders must exhibit behavior and values that help teams infer that they’re safe.
External forces can affect psychological safety
Even if you’re doing all you can to help your teams feel safe, sometimes external forces are factors. Economic factors or political shifts over which you have no control can affect your team’s psychological safety. Even if your organization has not experienced downsizing, your team is aware of affected peers in other organizations.
They may tell themselves a story that they’re not safe, even if they are. To change those perceptions, leaders must give team members evidence so their inner dialogue tells them they’re safe.
Signs your team doesn’t feel safe
When your team doesn’t feel safe, there are signs. These signs point to unspoken fears of being judged, ridiculed, blamed, dismissed, or worse. These include:
- Low morale. Low morale differs depending on a team member’s Motivational Dimension. An Influencer with low morale might withdraw from social interactions, showing less interest in networking or leveraging their influence to motivate others. (See how other Motivational Dimensions exhibit low morale.)
- Lack of engagement. If you ask hard questions and your team members nod and agree with you, they might feel unsafe telling you what they really think. Worse, they might not share critical data that differs from what they perceive you want to hear.
- Lack of participation in meetings. Team members are silent during meetings, rarely contribute ideas, or are hesitant to speak up unless directly prompted.
- Reluctance to take risks. New challenges or innovative projects can be met with reluctance or doubt. This can stem from a fear of failure and the potential negative feedback that might follow.
- Lack of interpersonal trust. Team members are reluctant to rely on each other or to offer help. This can indicate a lack of trust and a fear of being let down or exposed.
- Overemphasis on harmony and conflict avoidance. If a team prioritizes harmony over constructive conflict, it might indicate that people are afraid to express dissenting views, leading to groupthink and stifled innovation.
- Blame. A pervasive culture of blame, where team members are quick to point fingers instead of collaboratively addressing mistakes, can signal a lack of psychological safety.
- Lack of personal stories or vulnerability. When team members do not share personal experiences or show vulnerability, it may suggest that they do not feel the team is a safe space for openness.
- Surface-level agreement. Quick agreement on decisions without in-depth discussion or debate can indicate that team members might be withholding their true thoughts or concerns to avoid conflict.
If you start seeing signs of fear or uncertainty in your team, it’s time to make psychological safety a priority.
Strategies for Building Psychological Safety
Building psychological safety in teams requires intentional effort and leadership commitment to creating a safe environment for dissent and free communication. Here are some key ways you can foster psychological safety in their teams.
Know your people
Knowing your team and how they communicate can help you encourage honest communication and psychological safety. When you communicate in the language of your team members’ Motivational Dimensions, you can use ideas and words that empower and encourage.
For example, direct, decisive words focused on future progress and solutions will resonate with Drivers.
Provide clear expectations on goals and expectations
When organizational goals and expectations are unclear, teams can’t feel safe. When you clearly communicate expectations and goals, your team feels secure. They know where they’re going and what’s expected of them to get there, and they’re more likely to communicate openly and infer security on the way to achieving goals.
Lead by example
Show how to raise problems, admit mistakes, or ask hard questions in a constructive, nonjudgmental manner. When your team sees that you accept constructive criticism gracefully and value the open flow of ideas, your team will follow your lead. They will start to reflect the values you’ve modeled for them.
Be clear that you want feedback
Don’t assume your team knows about your open-door policy. If you don’t communicate that you want feedback, you can’t expect your team to provide it.
Publicly thanking those who do come forward with ideas, concerns and critical data can show your team that you do want any and all feedback. This can show your team that they’re safe in expressing anything they feel is essential.
Be vulnerable
Confident leaders who speak as if they have all the answers can stifle communication. Overconfidence tells teams that leaders don’t want any information or ideas that differ from the leader’s perception. It’s not only okay to admit that you don’t have all the answers; it actually empowers your team. Let your people know that you hired the best and look to them for expertise. Showing your team that you’re human and could use some help can encourage your people to provide that assistance freely.
Give your team members space to think
Sharing an opinion can be vulnerable, especially if your team member was previously on a team with less psychological safety. They might need some time to gather their thoughts. Don’t put your team members on the spot. Encourage them to take as long as they need to give you feedback, and let them know they’re safe to do so.
Thank your employee for their honest communication
When an employee takes a risk in communicating critical data or viewpoints, reward them. Tell them how their honesty and clarity helped you understand a problem better. If you can celebrate their openness in front of other team members, even better.
As more of your team sees that you respond positively to all feedback, more employees will take the initiative to do so.
Developing psychological safety is rewarding
The evidence is clear. Psychological safety is critical to team effectiveness and organizational success. Organizations can enhance innovation, learning, and performance by fostering an environment where team members feel safe to take risks, ask questions, and express their thoughts and ideas.
But this doesn’t happen overnight.
If your team has a history of not feeling safe, it might take time and patience to show them they indeed are safe under your leadership.
The byproduct of psychological safety: trust
Trust is an essential part of a high-performing team. But trust isn’t something you can demand from your team. Asking your team to trust you can raise suspicion. When your team feels safe and sees others feeling safe, trust will evolve. Your people begin to trust leadership, their peers, and even themselves.
Trust is the by-product of a well-led team.
Motivation Code can help
Knowing how your team members are motivated is a key component of providing psychological safety. When you know your team members’ Motivational Dimensions, you can tailor your communication directly to their motivations.
If a team member is an Achiever who is motivated to be an integral part of an organization, communicating their value and connection to the team can help them feel safe and motivated to communicate.
Creating a culture of psychological safety is not a one-time initiative. It is a continuous journey that requires commitment, leadership, and a willingness to learn and adapt. Motivation Code can help you get there. When you’re ready to bring Motivation Code to your team, let us know.
Get Your Teams’ Motivation Code