The Power Of Psychological Safety In The Workplace 

7 ways to activate psychologically safe work environments

In 2012, Google set out on an expansive project that would raise the eyebrows of more than a few experts. They called it Project Aristotle. Its defining purpose was to answer the age-old question: What made effective teams? At the heart of this mentally challenging project was embracing risks and celebrating failure without negative consequences — an undertaking many viewed as maddening. Celebrate failure? Empower risk-taking? No reprisal? Why not? — Google’s ambitious attempt to figure out the secret behind effective teams pushed the limits into much more than taking risks. They found unique ways of celebrating failure and making it okay to fail. ‘Failure Fridays — became an initiative that allowed teams to experiment, take risks and learn from mistakes. It’s an example of how the company remains ahead of the curve in terms of workplace dynamics and culture. After years of rigorous analysis, research and experimentation, they discovered that psychological safety was key to creating productive and successful workplaces. The project changed the trajectory of organizational dynamics.

Today, when we think about company culture, it’s the feel-good fun stuff like staff parties, ping pong tables, juice bars and colorful spaces. But company culture is so much more than that. It’s the set of beliefs, values and behaviors that make up the DNA of how an organization runs — and one of the most important aspects of company culture is psychological safety.

So what exactly is psychological safety, why is it important, what might cause a breakdown, and how can leaders lean into the power of psychological safety to lead effective teams?

The Concept and Importance of Psychological Safety in the Workplace

Psychological safety is defined as a sense of trust and mutual respect among team members — it allows for open communication without the fear of being judged or criticized. In other words, this is an environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing their ideas, taking risks, making mistakes and sharing spaces of vulnerabilities without worrying about negative consequences. This fundamental concept has since revolutionized workplace culture across many organizations.

The Breakdown of Psychological Safety in the Workplace

Yet, psychological safety in the workplace remains a space, leaders worldwide continue to struggle to strike a balance built on integrity, trust and care. It is a breakdown that costs companies millions in lost productivity from absenteeism, misguided training initiatives, burnout, creative decline, and stifled innovation. Of several factors which can contribute to a breakdown of psychological safety in the workplace, these are the most recurring:
 

1. Fear of retaliation or silencing: Employees may fear reprisals from their colleagues or superiors if they speak up or challenge the status quo.
2. Lack of trust: Employees who don’t trust their colleagues or superiors may be less likely to speak up or share their ideas.
3. Micromanagement: When managers micromanage their employees’ work, it can create an environment where employees feel like they’re not trusted to do their jobs.
4. Blame culture: A blame culture where individuals are punished for making mistakes can create an environment where employees are afraid to take risks or try new things.

Leaning into the Power of Psychological Safety in the Workplace

In psychologically safe working environments, a unified understanding is felt, seen and held together by trust in each other, respect for ideas, genuine care and a sincere sense of belonging. This lived experience becomes the difference in how employees feel about taking risks, admitting their mistakes, seeking help, raising concerns, asking questions, and challenging points of view they do not understand.

Leaning into the power of psychologically safe work environments can dramatically boost employee morale, gain insights for growth opportunities, align learning initiatives, foresee damaging effects, inspire trust between employees and managers, increase the drive for creative risks and boost overall productivity.

Here are seven ways to activate psychologically safe work environments.

Lead by Example

As a leader, setting an example for your team is important. Psychological safety can get undermined when leaders don’t create an environment of trust and openness. If a leader isn’t able to set clear boundaries around communication and expectations, team members may become uncertain about how they should interact with each other. This creates anxiety and insecurity, making people less likely to share their thoughts and opinions openly. As a result, psychological safety is compromised. Instead, show them how valuable a psychologically safe environment is by being open and honest with them in meetings, encouraging them to speak up and share their ideas, and offering constructive feedback when needed. Not only will you be setting the tone for other members of your team but also demonstrating that everyone’s voice matters regardless of job title or seniority level.

Set Clear Boundaries 

Leaders must set clear expectations for respectful communication, provide feedback on performance regularly (both positive and negative), and encourage team members to voice their opinions without fear of retaliation or criticism. This means:
 

1. Streamline communication best practices to direct how employees share their concerns, objections and ideas.
2. Diagnose the parameters of what constitutes and separates mistakes from deliberate negligence, harm or sabotage to people and company existence.
3. Employ a culture of language to treat failure as a process of learning instead of shame or defeat.
4. Celebrate and empower one’s strength to share mistakes and shortcomings with integrity, building resilience, inspiring trust and driving inspiration.
5. Amplify failure as an opportunity to help strengthen gaps in service, people and product.

Doing this will foster a culture of collaboration and trust which helps create an atmosphere of psychological safety in the workplace.

Create an Engaging Workplace Culture

Creating an engaging workplace culture can go a long way in fostering psychological safety. This means designing programs that encourage employees to connect meaningfully, such as group volunteering projects or group fitness activities outside of work hours. These activities help create connections between team members who may not have otherwise interacted, which helps build trust throughout the organization.

Promote Empathy and Respectful Listening

Empathy is key when it comes to creating a psychologically safe environment at work; it helps employees understand each other on a deeper level which further strengthens trust among colleagues. Promoting respectful listening within teams will also help create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable speaking up and voicing their opinion without fear of criticism or ridicule from those around them.

Reward Risk Taking and New Ideas

It’s important to reward risk-taking and new ideas rather than penalizing mistakes or failures — this will encourage more risk-taking behavior, leading to greater innovation and creativity across teams. Rewarding risk-taking also helps build trust among colleagues as they know they won’t be punished if something doesn’t go according to plan — instead, they will be celebrated for trying something new!

Provide Resources for Mental Health Support

It can be hard for employees to know where to turn when they need help or advice. Make sure resources are available in your workplace, such as counseling services or even someone they can talk to — such as a Human Resources representative — who won’t judge them for what they say. This will go a long way towards fostering trust among your staff, leading to better communication and collaboration between team members.

Recognize Not All Failure is Created Equally

In some cases, employees will fail in ways such as breaching company policies or inappropriate behavior that harm other employees’ well-being. When this happens, leaders must address the failure head-on. Doing so fosters a culture of psychological safety by clarifying and enforcing company policies and expectations that make it clear to staff that inappropriate behavior and actions compromising the organization or the people who work within it will not be tolerated.

Conclusion: 
If we take away anything from Project Aristotles’s journey, it is to embrace the idea that taking risks and fostering creativity leads to successful teams. Project Aristotle saw this possibility of greatness and decided to take a risk by tinkering with the psychology of productivity.

For this reason, when employees feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas or taking risks without the fear of failure or criticism, the team’s collective intelligence increases exponentially. This newfound collaboration brings fresh perspectives and innovative ideas that can be leveraged toward long-term growth. At its core, fostering psychological safety within an organization is about creating a culture that encourages collaboration with respect, loyalty and trust — something every leader should strive to build in order to make their business thrive!

Nerissa J. Persaud is a Guyanese-Canadian Management Thinker and the Founder of Ignite the Human Spark, who has dedicated her professional life to improving how people live and work. Nerissa has worked with several luxury hotel brands including Marriott and the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts before launching into the hospitality recruitment business while living in India.