Have you often wondered why you do not feel comfortable voicing opinions? Most workers in the corporate organization think that they are the ones who lack confidence which is why they cannot express their opinions clearly. However, it is also the organizational responsibility to provide an inclusive work environment to ensure psychological safety among employees. Cooperative teamwork promotes a culture of teamwork and effective collaboration. Individuals do not perform to their maximum levels if the workplace environment is not psychologically conducive to collaboration. Psychological safety is crucial in the workplace, where people do not feel humiliated or punished for voicing their opinions or concerns. Accountability for actions is another sign of a productive organization, and without psychological safety, there is a lack of responsible behavior and team development. Psychological safety is like a shared belief where one individual has the confidence to engage in a constructive conversation with another without any fear of rejection.

Need for Psychological Safety for a High-performing Team

A survey conducted by Google found that psychological safety was necessary to make a person feel secure and to increase their performance. An effective team is mainly because of how the team members treat each other. Amy C Edmondson coined the phrase “psychological safety” as a belief shared between team members and reflected the supportive interpersonal relationship. The post-Covid world is filled with uncertainties resulting in the changing landscape of the business sector. Companies must have the latest technologies and modern business tools to achieve high-performing teams. Psychological safety is a part of the culture of teamwork where an organization understands that failure is one of the outcomes. Instead of ridiculing workers, they should take steps to reduce errors by making them feel safe. The Project Aristotle implemented by Google interviewed 180 teams which showed that high-performing teams had practiced psychological safety, which was at the top of the list. Another study found that 20% of team members do not feel safe voicing their opinions and ideas, which reduces their performance.

Impact of Psychological Safety on Team Performance

The impact of psychological safety can be witnessed in the organization and not only in a particular team. The following are some of the different benefits listed below.

1. Greater Innovation
2. Increase in the Culture of Teamwork
3. Increase in performance and productivity
4. Increase in employee engagement

The above are the four significant impacts of psychological safety, which increase creativity in the workplace by making workers safe and secure. There is also an increase in the culture of team development where individuals feel safe approaching each other with their problems. All these factors lead to high performance and productivity of the organization and increase employee engagement with their work.

Tips to Improve Psychological Safety

1. Establishing a Learning Culture – Team development in an organization can be achieved by increasing psychological safety. It is essential to establish a culture based on sharing and acquiring knowledge. It will encourage workers to self-reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and find ways to improve.
    
2. Upskilling and Training – Training in team development can increase the confidence of individuals by providing them with the skills required to enhance performance. Training can help one understand a person’s behavior and learn ways to alter their behavior in certain critical situations to achieve positive outcomes.
    
3. Monitor – Team dynamics constantly change, so the organization needs to survey the team and understand their feelings and demands. It is vital to hold group discussions and one-on-one conversations to understand the intent behind providing a psychologically safe environment.
    
4. Build common values – Team development is based on shared goals and values. It is, therefore, crucial for organizations to build a value system that all the team members will embrace.

    

5. Establish ethical behavior – Organizations need to have ethical and moral principles to discourage discrimination or unruly harmful behavior. In this regard, empathy and inclusivity are essential. Therefore, organizations should motivate employees to practice behaviors that encourage employees to embrace failure and grow from it.
    
6. Open to Feedback – It is essential to provide constructive feedback to employees. Do not humiliate or embarrass workers in front of others but learn how to provide motivational feedback.
    
7. Include team members in decision-making – It is crucial that workers feel valued, and leaders should take their opinions while making decisions.

Conclusion

Psychological safety and team development are interdependent. For an organization to progress in the business scenario, the company needs to strengthen its brand image. In this regard, psychological safety given to their workers will ensure highly productive teams and increase revenue.