Psychological Safety Research
Psychological safety research: Amy Edmondson.
Foundations of team performance
Amy Edmondson's research on how safety enables high performance
Purpose
Explain why trust and safety are performance accelerators
Training Enrichment
Core Insight
Psychological safety is the key ingredient that opens team performance by fostering trust and open communication. Without it, teams are paralyzed by fear and fail to take the risks necessary for innovation and growth.
Real-World Challenge
Imagine leading a team meeting where a major project error is discovered. The room is tense, and everyone is silent, fearing blame and judgment. As the leader, you sense the heavy reluctance to speak up, but without open discussion, the error will repeat, jeopardizing future projects and your team's credibility.
Actionable Guidance
- 1Start meetings by explicitly inviting input and emphasizing that all ideas are valued to reduce fear of judgment.
- 2If you notice silence or hesitance, say, 'I notice we're quiet-let's explore this together without blame. What are your thoughts?'
- 3Celebrate mistakes as learning opportunities by sharing a personal example of a mistake you learned from.
- 4Regularly check in with team members individually to build trust and understand any unspoken concerns.
- 5If a team member voices a concern, acknowledge their courage publicly and thank them for contributing.
Coaching Prompts
- ?How can you create an environment where team members feel safe to voice their opinions?
- ?What specific behaviors are you exhibiting that might hinder psychological safety?
- ?How do you currently respond to mistakes, and how might that impact your team's willingness to take risks?
Application Drill(5 minutes)
In your next team meeting, focus on actively sending at least three psychological safety signals, such as expressing curiosity, admitting a mistake, or showing appreciation. Observe the Transform in team dynamics.
Success Criteria:
- ✓Team members share more openly and frequently.
- ✓Increased willingness to discuss mistakes and learn from them.
Examples
- •Executive building safety culture
- •Leader understanding team dynamics
- •Coach teaching safety principles
Exercises
- 1Safety Assessment: Evaluate your team's psychological safety using research-based indicators-where are the gaps?
- 2Threat Reduction: Identify 3 specific behaviors or structures in your environment that trigger threat response-redesign them
- 3Safety Signals: Intentionally send 5 safety signals in every coaching session (listening, curiosity, fallibility, appreciation)
- 4Team Intervention: Lead a team exercise to establish psychological safety norms and accountability
Tags
Related Artifacts
Expected Outcomes
- ✓Comprehensive understanding of psychological safety research
- ✓Recognition of safety indicators and threats
- ✓Practical strategies for building safe team environments
- ✓Measurement approaches for safety assessment
Authors
Target Audience
Duration
45-60 minutes
Difficulty
beginner
Sources & References
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