Psychological safety

Psychological safety is a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.[1] In psychologically safe teams, team members feel accepted and respected. It is also the most studied enabling condition in group dynamics and team learning research.

When team members are motivated at work and want to share an idea for improving performance, they frequently do not speak up because they fear that they will be harshly judged.[2] When psychological safety is present, team members think less about the potential negative consequences of expressing a new or different idea than they would otherwise.[1] As a result, they speak up more when they feel psychologically safe and are motivated to improve their team or company.[3][4][5]

Psychological safety is often confused with other concepts such as trust and psychological mindfulness. The primary differences between psychological safety and trust are that psychological safety focuses on a belief about a group norm, but trust focuses on a belief that one person has about another. Also, psychological safety is defined by how group members think they are viewed by others in the group, but trust is defined by how one views another.[6]

Mindfulness is also different from psychological safety in that mindfulness is about being aware of one's surroundings but psychological safety is focused on being respected in a group. Moreover, the most studied result of psychological safety, team learning, is defined as a group adjusting to its surrounding through outwardly sharing observations about their environment. However, mindfulness is an individual becoming internally enlightened about his/her environment.

Consequences

Psychological safety benefits organizations and teams in many different ways. The following are the most widely empirically supported consequences of a team being psychologically safe:

  1. Improves likelihood that an attempted process innovation will be successful[7]
  2. Increases amount members learn from mistakes[8]
  3. Boosts employee engagement[9][10]
  4. Improves team innovation[11]

Causes

Leaders as well as some aspects of the team can increase team members’ psychological safety. Two aspects of leadership have been shown to be particularly instrumental in creating a psychologically safe team. They are leaders using:

  1. Participatory management[1][12]
  2. Inclusive management[10][13]

There are also two aspects of a team that help improve its psychological safety. They are:

  1. A clear team structure where members understand their role on the team[14]
  2. Strong relationships between cohesive team members[15][16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Edmondson, Amy (1 June 1999). "Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams" (PDF). Administrative Science Quarterly. 44 (2): 350–383. doi:10.2307/2666999.
  2. ↑ Detert, J. R.; Edmondson, A. C. (1 June 2011). "Implicit Voice Theories: Taken-for-Granted Rules of Self-Censorship at Work". Academy of Management Journal. 54 (3): 461–488. doi:10.5465/AMJ.2011.61967925.
  3. ↑ Detert, J. R.; Trevino, L. K. (6 November 2008). "Speaking Up to Higher-Ups: How Supervisors and Skip-Level Leaders Influence Employee Voice". Organization Science. 21 (1): 249–270. doi:10.1287/orsc.1080.0405.
  4. ↑ Schein, Edgar H. (1993). "How can organizations learn faster? : the challenge of entering the green room." (PDF). Sloan Management Review. 34 (2): 85 – 93.
  5. ↑ Schein, Edgar H.; Bennis, Warren G. (1965). Personal and organizational change through group methods: the laboratory approach. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0471758507.
  6. ↑ Edmondson, A.C. (2003). "Managing the Risk of Learning: Psychological Safety in Work Teams". In West, Michael A.; Tjosvold, Dean; Smith, Ken G. International Handbook of Organizational Teamwork and Cooperative Working. New York: Wiley. doi:10.1002/9780470696712.ch13.
  7. ↑ Baer, Markus; Frese, Michael (1 February 2003). "Innovation is not enough: climates for initiative and psychological safety, process innovations, and firm performance". Journal of Organizational Behavior. 24 (1): 45–68. doi:10.1002/job.179.
  8. ↑ Edmondson, A. C. (1 March 1996). "Learning from Mistakes is Easier Said Than Done: Group and Organizational Influences on the Detection and Correction of Human Error". The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. 32 (1): 5–28. doi:10.1177/0021886396321001.
  9. ↑ Kark, Ronit; Carmeli, Abraham (1 August 2009). "Alive and creating: the mediating role of vitality and aliveness in the relationship between psychological safety and creative work involvement". Journal of Organizational Behavior. 30 (6): 785–804. doi:10.1002/job.571.
  10. 1 2 Nembhard, Ingrid M.; Edmondson, Amy C. (1 November 2006). "Making it safe: the effects of leader inclusiveness and professional status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in health care teams". Journal of Organizational Behavior. 27 (7): 941–966. doi:10.1002/job.413.
  11. ↑ West, Michael A.; Anderson, Neil R. (1 January 1996). "Innovation in top management teams.". Journal of Applied Psychology. 81 (6): 680–693. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.81.6.680.
  12. ↑ Burris, E. R.; Rodgers, M. S.; Mannix, E. A.; Hendron, M. G.; Oldroyd, J. B. (6 July 2009). "Playing Favorites: The Influence of Leaders' Inner Circle on Group Processes and Performance". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 35 (9): 1244–1257. doi:10.1177/0146167209338747.
  13. ↑ Edmondson, Amy C.; Bohmer, Richard M.; Pisano, Gary P. (1 December 2001). "Disrupted Routines: Team Learning and New Technology Implementation in Hospitals". Administrative Science Quarterly. 46 (4): 685. doi:10.2307/3094828.
  14. ↑ Bunderson, J. S.; Boumgarden, P. (4 December 2009). "Structure and Learning in Self-Managed Teams: Why "Bureaucratic" Teams Can Be Better Learners". Organization Science. 21 (3): 609–624. doi:10.1287/orsc.1090.0483.
  15. ↑ Carmeli, Abraham; Gittell, Jody Hoffer (1 August 2009). "High-quality relationships, psychological safety, and learning from failures in work organizations". Journal of Organizational Behavior. 30 (6): 709–729. doi:10.1002/job.565.
  16. ↑ Schulte, M.; Cohen, N. A.; Klein, K. J. (22 October 2010). "The Coevolution of Network Ties and Perceptions of Team Psychological Safety". Organization Science. 23 (2): 564–581. doi:10.1287/orsc.1100.0582.
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