Creating A Safe Space

What do we mean by a safe space??

Creating a safe space in teams is the foundation in helping to build high performing teams, but what do we mean by a safe space?

Somewhere you can go, be yourself, try new things, not be judged, be happy and grow are just some of the things that come to mind. Essentially in teams its creating an environment for the team to work together built on trust, respect, commitment and always believing people are trying to do their best.?

Lets take a basic example: You can take your child to a soft play area and its covered with padding so its a safe space, right? Maybe if they are there alone but what if they are with other children, do they feel safe to play around them? What if they try to climb the ladder and fall, will they look silly? What if they don't agree with the other children on how to climb the slide and it causes conflict? Change that soft play for the working environment and it's no different. People who have a safe space to work build stronger relationships, enjoy their work and achieve results.

Teams are made up of people, people are individuals who have different feelings, learning styles and working patterns. Bringing all this together can be hard so its important to address with your team how they will work together and create some team values and principles.

There is no easy way to build a safe space but the are many tools which can help you along the journey, When forming teams ensure you create team norms to establish how teams will work and interact with each other, talk up front about how the team will deal with conflict when it happens and discuss if conflict is a good or bad thing. Teach your teams about the 5 dysfunctions of team to understand how to build from the base layer up. Bond your teams as much as possible with inside and outside team activities helping them to understand each other as humans not just work colleagues.

By creating a safe space for people to share, learn and evolve together will put you on the right footing to creating a high performing team.

To find out more on build teams and some useful tools visit our website at www.agilemastery.co.uk