Creating psychological safety on your team is key for fostering collaboration and productivity!
Founder & Performance Coach | Helping leaders uncover their strengths, build performance cultures, and hit business targets. | Ex-Tech Executive | Feat. in Inc., US News, NY Post
I've observed a pattern over the years: Leaders who are constantly in the weeds of their team’s work can unintentionally create an environment that lacks psychological safety. Here are 3 common signs that a team doesn't feel safe: 1) They're not delivering. If you’ve noticed your team is constantly missing deadlines and they don’t inform you about it ahead of time (or wait until the last minute to inform you), they might not feel safe enough to disclose those details. 2) Giving and receiving feedback makes them anxious. Look - feedback is hard! But if you feel like your team doesn’t ask you for feedback on their work or you can feel their anxiety levels skyrocket when you're giving them feedback, they might not feel safe enough to do so. Reflect a little: your pattern of giving feedback may be focused on perfect (a trigger) and not growth and learning (supportive). 3) There’s no culture of innovation or risk-taking. If you feel like your team is constantly playing it safe, only taking on the work they know they can do, they might be afraid to take risks for fear of failing and what might happen if they do. So how do you address it? → Create a culture of learning & empowerment on your team. Here are 3 strategies that’ll help: 1) Lead by example. Talk about your mistakes and how you’ve addressed them. Be candid, but also be kind to yourself — the goal here is to provide a framework for how they can talk about their own mistakes. 2) Make time for play. Find some team building exercises (virtual or in person) that are proven to encourage psychological safety on teams, please — no trust falls! The goal of these is to create a playful environment where failure is encouraged. 3) Don’t put yourself at the center of your teams’ conflicts. Encourage them to resolve their own conflicts and only come to you to discuss how they might approach their colleague to solve a problem. It may be uncomfortable for them (and even for you!) - but that’s okay. Creating a safe environment for your team is one of the biggest “hacks” for success and high performance. What else would you add to this list?