How can you encourage team creativity through psychological safety?

1 What is psychological safety?

Psychological safety is a concept that was popularized by Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School, who defined it as "a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking". In other words, it is the feeling that you can be yourself, speak your mind, and experiment without fear of negative consequences. Psychological safety is not about being nice or avoiding conflict, but about being respectful, supportive, and curious. It is also not the same as trust, which is the expectation that others will act in a reliable and ethical way. Psychological safety is more about how you interact and communicate with others, and how you respond to feedback and challenges.

3 How can you assess psychological safety in your team?

Before you can improve psychological safety in your team, you need to know how safe your team members feel to take risks and express themselves. To measure psychological safety, you can use surveys, interviews, observations, or feedback sessions. Ask your team members questions such as: how comfortable they are to ask questions or admit mistakes; how often they receive constructive and supportive feedback; how open they are to share opinions; how willing they are to try new things or fail; and how confident they are that their team values contributions and respects differences. Use the answers to identify the strengths and weaknesses of psychological safety in your team, and set goals and action plans to improve it.

4 How can you create psychological safety in your team?

Creating psychological safety in your team is an ongoing process that demands intentional and consistent actions from both team leaders and members. As a leader, you can set the tone by admitting your limitations, asking for help, and learning from others. You can also encourage your team members to do the same by using open-ended questions, listening actively, and recognizing their inputs. To make feedback more constructive and less intimidating, you can apply the SBI model - Situation, Behavior, and Impact. Additionally, it is essential to balance feedback with recognition by praising your team's efforts, achievements, and creativity. Moreover, you can leverage the diversity of your team by creating opportunities for collaboration and promoting inclusion. Lastly, a culture of experimentation should be encouraged to allow risks and failures to be treated as learning opportunities rather than performance or competence indicators. Celebrating failures through sharing stories, lessons, and feedback can also be beneficial.

5 How can you maintain psychological safety in your team?

Creating psychological safety in your team is not enough, you also need to maintain it over time, especially when your team faces changes, challenges, or conflicts. To do this, you should monitor and measure psychological safety regularly by using surveys, interviews, observations, feedback sessions, or indicators such as team engagement and satisfaction. Additionally, you should address any issues or concerns that arise in your team with effective conflict resolution techniques. Furthermore, positive reinforcement techniques like recognition and appreciation can help reinforce and reward psychological safety. Finally, social norms such as values, stories, or rituals can be used to embed psychological safety in your team's culture and identity.