The Workplace Coach

I was watching something on tv the other day and there was an interaction between two colleagues in the workplace.  The first said that “for all intensive purposes” what he had done was the right thing to do.  His colleague immediately jumped in and corrected him saying that the phrase he was looking for was “for all intents and purposes”.  He replied that it didn’t really matter, that you could say it both ways.  To which she said, dripping with condescension, “Sure you can, but one way makes you sound like an idiot and the other doesn’t”. 

I had a good laugh and then got to thinking about what it might be like working in a team environment like that.  In psychologically safe teams, team members express mutual respect, trust and interest in each other as people. They do not attack each other’s knowledge, competence, motivation, personality or character.

According to Amy Edmondson, a leading Harvard Business School researcher on the topic, psychological safety “describes the perceived consequences of taking interpersonal risks in the  workplace.” Edmondson has identified the importance of psychological safety for workplace collaboration and teamwork. Psychologically safe team members “feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea.”

With so many organisations wrestling with developing effective ways of working together in a hybrid model (especially those with knowledge workers), it’s not surprising that psychological safety is also getting a seat at the table, alongside employee engagement and workplace culture.

“No one wants to leave part of their personality and inner life at home. But to be fully present at work, to feel “psychologically safe,” we need to know that we can sometimes to share the things that we are uncertain or anxious about without fear of recriminations. We must be able to talk about what is messy or sad or personal.  We have to feel safe to have those hard conversations with colleagues who are driving us crazy. We can’t be focused just on efficiency.”

Psychological safety might appear to be hard to tackle. As with most things in workplaces that involve human beings (which, when I last checked, is pretty much everything) you might feel a bit overwhelmed and unsure about where to start.  But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be taking steps to build the psychological safety in your workplace. The benefits will become clear very quickly.

If you would like some help getting started, give us a call. 

The Workplace Coach