We all know about physical safety – it gets drummed into us at home, at school and at work; things like the green cross code; stranger danger; manual handling and fire safety; and, of course, cyber security. 

But what about our psychological safety? 

First, let’s make sure we’re clear about what it is. Here are a few definitions. 

In psychologically safe teams, team members feel accepted and respected. It’s the belief that you won’t be punished when you make a mistake and encourages moderate risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity, and sticking your neck out without fear of having it cut off. And these are just the types of behaviors that make change happen. 

The science bit 

Research tells us that when the workplace feels challenging but not threatening, oxytocin levels in our brain rise, which elicits trust and trust-making behavior. We become more open-minded, resilient, motivated, and persistent when we feel safe. Our sense of humor increases, and so does our ability to find solutions and think creatively. 

This then helps foster what’s known as the ‘broaden-and-build mode of positive emotion’ which allows us to solve complex problems and build co-operative relationships.  

The Scrum Master’s Role 

Well, the science sounds pretty compelling, but how do you increase psychological safety in your team? Here are some steps you can follow. 

Approach conflict as a collaborator 

Collaboration is about getting to a ‘win-win’ outcome. Nobody likes losing and a perception of loss can trigger attempts to ‘get even’ through competition, criticism, or disengagement. It’s about speaking human to human and asking, “how could we achieve a mutually desirable outcome?” 

Anticipate reactions and countermoves 

It’s important to consider how the team will react to your message and whether they’ll actually hear it or think it’s an attack on them. If a conversation is going to be difficult, prepare yourself for the likely reactions – perhaps by preparing evidence or bracing yourself for the other person to show their emotions. You need to place yourself in their shoes and think about what objections they’ll have to your message – and then work out how you’ll overcome them. 

Replace blame with curiosity 

Blame and criticism escalate conflict, cause defensiveness and lead to disengagement. The alternative to blame is curiosity – don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking, adopt a learning mindset and find out the facts. 

Ask for feedback 

Asking for feedback on how you delivered your message can disarm the other person, help you improve your communication skills and illustrate fallibility – which increases trust in leaders.  

Measure psychological safety 

Ask your team how safe they feel and how this could be enhanced. Use questions like ‘how confident are you that you won’t be criticized if you make a mistake?’  

Creating a sense of psychological safety in your team will generate higher levels of engagement, increased motivation to tackle difficult problems, more learning and development opportunities, and better performance. 

There’s more information about psychological safety in the ‘Creating Psychological Safety at Work’ video. And more about the role of leaders in the ‘Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe’ video. You’ll find links in the Change Agent Resources.