Psychological Safety: An Important Component for Safety in the Workplace
Psychological safety has been referred to as the single most important characteristic for successful teams and leads to decrease in turnover and increases in effectiveness. Psychological safety is the belief that your environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking meaning that asking questions, pointing out problems, and suggesting innovation will be responded to in a respectful manner. This presentation will cover what psychological safety is, why it’s important, how to assess its presence, and tips on how to grow this in your workplace.
By
Paula Allen, MS, BSN, RN, CPPS and
Karen Allard, MS, BA, RN.
Patient Safety Specialists, Bellin Health
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Session Overview
• Psychological safety has been referred to as the single most important characteristic for
successful teams and leads to decrease in turnover and increases in effectiveness.
• Psychological safety is the belief that your environment is safe for interpersonal risk-
taking meaning that asking questions, pointing out problems, and suggesting innovation
will be responded to in a respectful manner.
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Objectives
This presentation will cover:
• what psychological safety is,
• why it’s important,
• challenges to creating
• how to assess its presence,
• tips on how to grow this in your workplace.
Why? Psychological safety has been referred to as the single most important characteristic
for successful teams and leads to decrease in turnover and increases in effectiveness.
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Definition of Psychological Safety
A belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks: that one
will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with
ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.
• Anyone can ask questions without looking stupid.
• Anyone can ask for feedback without looking incompetent.
• Anyone can be respectfully critical without appearing negative.
• Anyone can suggest innovative ideas without being perceived as
disruptive.
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The history of Psychological Safety
1960’s
Schein and Bennis: “a person’s
anxiety about being basically
accepted and worthwhile"
Deming: “Drive out fear, so
that everyone may work
effectively for the company”
1990’s
Kahn: “employ or express themselves
physically, cognitively, and emotionally”
Edmondson: Discovered that teams with
better outcomes were admitting more
mistakes while teams with fewer good
outcomes were more likely to hide
mistakes
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Importance of Psychological Safety
“The growing body of knowledge on psychological safety in the workplace has flourished in
recent years, as organizations devote more resources and time to deepen the
understanding of the factor role in driving effectiveness. “
“Psychological Safety…
- is one of the key factors contributing to better performance of organizations
- stimulates work engagement
- promotes a knowledge-sharing environment
- positively impacts job satisfaction”
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Importance of Psychological Safety
A 2017 Gallup poll revealed
that just three in 10 U.S. workers strongly agree that at work, their opinions seem to count.
However, by moving that ratio to six in 10 employees, organizations could realize a 27%
reduction in turnover, a 40% reduction in safety incidents and a 12% increase in productivity.
Other research has shown greater return on assets, innovation in R & D teams, increases in
manufacturing process innovation performance, higher goal achievement, and increases in
successful implementation of new technology.
Google’s research on characteristics of high-performing teams identified psychological safety as
their top indicator of the performance of a team
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Organizational Challenges for Psychological Safety
Unequal power distribution and status
Negative consequences for honest
mistakes
Unwillingness of leaders to consider
the opinions of employees
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How to assess Psychological Safety
• If you make a mistake on your team, is it held against you?
• Are you able to bring up problems and tough issues?
• Do people on the team sometimes reject others for being different?
• Is it safe to take a risk?
• Is it difficult to ask other team members for help?
• Do people on the team deliberately act to undermine your efforts?
• Are your unique skills and talents valued and utilized?
Suggest this as Survey Monkey or annual survey
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How to grow Psychological Safety
Setting the Stage Inviting Participation Responding Productively
Leadership Tasks Frame the Work
• Set expectations
about failure,
uncertainty, and
interdependence to
clarify the need for
voice
Emphasize Purpose
• Identify what’s at
stake, why it matters,
and for whom it
matters
Demonstrate Situational
Humility
• Acknowledge gaps
Practice Inquiry
• Ask good questions
• Model intense listening
Set Up Structures and
Processes
• Create forums for input
• Provide guidelines for
discussion
Express Appreciation
• Listen
• Acknowledge and
thank
Destigmatize Failure
• Look forward
• Offer help
• Discuss, consider, and
brainstorm next steps
Sanction Clear Violations
Accomplishes Shared expectations and
meaning
Confidence that voice is
welcome
Orientation toward
continuous learning
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Team Members and Psychological Safety
Agree to share failures,
recognizing that mistakes
are an opportunity to learn
and grow
Ask for help and freely give
help when asked
Embrace expertise among
many versus a single “hero
mentality”
Encourage and express
gratitude which reinforces
team members sense of self
Ask powerful open-ended
questions then listen
actively and intently to
understand
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Bellin’s commitment to Psychological Safety
Civilitas – a team whose work encompasses how to spread and encourage psychological safety
through discussion. Utilize a monthly video and questions to spark conversation.
Include in new leader orientation.
Culture of Safety results include elements of psychological safety. Pulse survey incorporating the
specific seven questions was administered in June. Will incorporate the psychological safety
questions into the next combined Culture of Safety/Employee Engagement survey.
Weaving this in to the entire patient safety program we are designing.
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Reference Page
• Aranzamendez, G., James, D., & Toms, R. (2015, July). Finding antecedents of psychological safety: A step toward quality improvement. In Nursing forum (Vol. 50, No. 3, pp.
171-178).
• Atlanta Small Business Network. (2021). How to Create Psychological Safety for Your Small Business. Retrieved from: https://www.myasbn.com/small-business/culture/how-
to-create-psychological-safety-for-your-small-business-staff/
• Center for Creative Leadership. (2021). What is Psychological Safety at Work? Retrieved from: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/what-is-psychological-
safety-at-work/
• Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. John Wiley & Sons.
• Edmondson, A. (2014). Building a psychologically safe workplace [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8
• Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative science quarterly, 44(2), 350-383.
• Frankel, A., Haraden, C., Federico, F., & Lenoci-Edwards, J. (2017). A framework for safe, reliable, and effective care. Cambridge: Institute for Healthcare Improvement and
Safe & Reliable Healthcare.
• Geraghty, T. (2021). Psychological Safety – History, Concepts and Application. Retrieved from: https://www.psychsafety.co.uk/about-psychological-safety/
• Herway, J. (2017). How to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety. Retrieved from: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236198/create-culture-psychological-safety.aspx
• Newman, Dohohue, and Eva. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review.
• Obrenovic, B., Jianguo, D., Khudaykulov, A., & Khan, M. A. S. (2020). Work-family conflict impact on psychological safety and psychological well-being: A job performance
model. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 475.
• Tocco, S., & DeFontes, J. (2014). Managing our fears to improve patient safety. Am Nurse Today, 9, 34-36.
Notas del editor
Edmondson’s 1999 paper “Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams” has been cited almost 10,000 times according to Google Scholar. That means that a multitude of other researchers have cited her work!
There are multiple other studies that show a connection between high psychological safety and greater engagement by staff, more openness to learning from failure, have fewer workarounds, more engaged in their work, increased job performance
Stupid/Ignorant – don’t ask about things you aren’t sure of and risk not following the correct steps or technique
Incompetent – don’t ask for feedback but also don’t report mistakes or near-misses. This negatively affects organizational learning which could lead to systemic changes that improve the company
Negative – also don’t give honest feedback on individual and team performance appraisals. E.g. sees ways to improve the work process but don’t want to criticize the current state.
Disruptive – don’t question things that seem out of place even though something seems off because you don’t want to put the schedule behind
Setting the Stage: Adding meaning to the work; why is the work we do so profoundly important. People’s lives depend on it, for example. You might think that’s obvious and doesn’t need to be said but it helps remind us of what’s at stake and why it’s important it brings us back to why we’re here, why we’re doing this. It brings us in a sense away from that need to manage other’s impressions of us and back to the actual work that we do. If I, as a leader, remind you the nature of the work, the riskiness of the work that we do, it just creates a kind of invitation for you to take it seriously and bring your full self to work.
Invite participation: Model fallibility and invite input – I may miss something so I need your input.
Responding Productively – embrace the messenger. Thank people when they speak up or offer ideas or identify a process failure. Thank them, acknowledge there concern and close the loop with follow up.
Create a culture of inclusion and empathy. A psychologically safe environment means showing each employee that he or she is valued and wanted. Show by words and deeds an invitation and appreciation for other’s contributions.
Establish a culture and work environment where people are free to admit mistakes and discuss difficult situations. Be clear that making mistakes is part of the learning process; everyone makes them, and it is how you deal with them that makes a difference. Do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful behavior.
Build trust through communication. Ask for feedback to ensure you are meeting their needs. Lead by example and listen to your employees
Make psychological safety an explicit priority.
Talk about the importance of creating psychological safety at work, connecting it to a higher purpose of promoting greater organizational innovation, team engagement, and a sense of inclusion. Model the behaviors you want to see and set the stage by showing empathy in the workplace.
2. Facilitate everyone speaking up.
Show genuine curiosity and honor candor and truth-telling. Be open-minded, compassionate, and empathetic when someone is brave enough to say something challenging the status quo. Organizations with a coaching culture will more likely have team members with the courage to speak the truth.
3. Establish norms for how failure is handled.
Don’t punish experimentation and (reasonable) risk-taking. Encourage learning from failure and disappointment, and openly share your hard-won lessons learned from mistakes. Doing so will help encourage innovation, instead of sabotaging it.
4. Create space for new ideas (even wild ones).
When challenging an idea, provide the challenge in the larger context of support. Consider whether you only want ideas that have been thoroughly tested, or whether you’re willing to accept highly creative, out-of-the-box ideas that are not yet well-formulated. Learn how to embrace new ideas to foster more innovative mindsets on your team.
5. Embrace productive conflict.
Promote dialogue and productive debate, and work to resolve conflicts productively. Leaders can set the stage for incremental change by establishing team expectations for factors that contribute to psychological safety. With your team, discuss the following questions:
How will team members communicate their concerns about a process that isn’t working?
How can reservations be shared with colleagues in a respectful manner?
What are our norms for managing conflicting perspectives?
While leaders play a role in shaping their team’s culture, it’s up to each team member to contribute to a psychologically safe climate at work, too.
“A culture is simplistically defined by ‘the way we do things around here,’” says Altman. “We all have a role to play in how we do things at work — both on our team and in our organization.”