INTRODUCTION

In our post describing the scary side of psychological safety, we consider why some leaders are nervous about cultivating a more open culture in the workplace.  Now we’d like to spend some time thinking about what each of us can do, from wherever we are in the organization, to promote psychological safety, regardless of where the boss is in the process.

IF YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ORGANIZATION

Two focus points for supporting psychological safety from the middle of an organization:

• How we do things. What we do is relevant, but our position may not have a lot of control over the tasks we’re assigned. How we do these tasks can build trust or erode it.
• Practicing where are. Our efforts won’t change the situation for everyone, but we might improve the situation for the folks we work with. And when the opportunity presents itself, we might expand our efforts to larger groups because we’ve been practicing and we feel we are ready.

IF YOU ARE A CURRENT EMPLOYEE

Current employees have many opportunities each day to help cultivate an open and respectful workplace.  We can:

• Be mindful of the cues we give others. We want to show that we’re open to a variety of viewpoints, ideas and perspectives, without judgement.
• Ask for people’s insights on daily issues. We can invite our colleagues to tell us what they think about what’s going well and what could use some improvement.
• Appreciate people for what they offer and thank them for taking the time to weigh in.
• Take care not to erode trust (e.g., talking about others behind their backs, not keeping confidences, etc.), but instead, to build it whenever we can.
• Give people (including ourselves) some grace. Remember that what we do and say at work isn’t all of who we are.  We all make mistakes and we all need to be forgiven.

IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE ORGANIZATION

If you’re new to an organization or group, you have an open field to help seed more psychological safety, wherever you land.  You might:

• Use your newness as an excuse to test the group’s norms. You can literally say, “This might sound strange, or be different from the way things work around here, but…” If you can frame this question using familiar local language around accepted goals, the question might feel less like a challenge and more like someone who is on board with the group’s goals and may have different perspectives on how to reach them.
• Question how things are done outright, by expressing curiosity about how and why things have become the way they are.
• Be open to your new organization doing things differently than your previous organization, even if you’re not convinced that the difference is an improvement. Give the new a try and see how it works for you and those around you.

IF YOU ARE AN OUTSIDER TO THE ORGANIZATION

If you’re an outsider to an organization, perhaps a consultant or independent contractor, your project or temporary role might give you an opportunity to take some greater risks.  You might:

• Suggest inclusive, non-judgmental processes to shift group dynamics beyond task-focused conversations. Yes, the work needs to get done, but how the work gets done is just as important.
• Invite the group to set their own community agreements for how they’ll work together and with you during the duration of your time together. Any project can be an opportunity for organizational development.  As people practice relating to each other differently in a small group, there is a chance that some might take what they’ve experienced into new project groups in the future.

We believe that no matter where you are in the organization, you can help improve psychological safety.  You can model it in your own behavior and use whatever projects or platforms available to you to model it with groups.

It is true that a leader with positional power can be part of the problem if they shut their people down and/or create a hostile environment.  If that is the case, and you feel unsafe on a regular basis, it’s worth trying to see if others in your group feel similarly.  If they do, human resources might be able to help resolve the issue with leadership coaching or group dynamics interventions.

In those instances when all roads lead to dead ends (which we have each lived ourselves), sometimes the only option is to seek another position in a healthier group.  The lesson in that situation is that psychological safety at work is essential, worth seeking and co-creating for your own health.

TO LEARN MORE

To learn more about how to deal with psychological safety regardless of where you are in the organization, register for our FREE webinar on March 1 from 11:30 a.m. – Noon CT.