Psychological Safety

Original Post Date: December 13, 2023 

Hello all,

This week's wisdom is about psychological safety and how to build that into our organizations. 

There will always be challenging moments for us in the workplace. Those moments can be much easier when you can expect that concerns will be received with an open mind, that your supervisors will listen and help when you need it, that mistakes will be seen more as learning opportunities and less as blaming opportunities. I had exactly that experience last week, when explaining to my supervisor that I'd made a mistake that required them to help by transferring funds quickly into a temp student payroll account! None of us were happy about that, but I wasn't blamed or shamed. And I wasn't expecting to be...although before SUNY Plattsburgh I worked in organizations where that would have happened. 

So...how do we create that sense of safety and build that trust? 

I think it will be specific to each organization and each team. So much depends on what has already happened in your workplace and what specific challenges you are now facing. Nonetheless, there are experts out there ready to help. I've collected a few resources that might help you plan that work. 

From Michelle McQuade's free newsletter, which I highly recommend: (she holds a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania with Professor Martin Seligman and a Ph.D. in creating positive change under the supervision of Professor David Cooperrider). 
"Every job involves some psychosocial (emotional and social) hazards that can increase the risk of work-related stress, harm our mental and physical health, and if prolonged, lead to burnout. So, how can we practically minimize this risk for ourselves and others as we work together? " 
https://www.michellemcquaid.com/three-ways-to-improve-psychological-safety/

From the Harvard Business Review:

"Summary. What exactly is psychological safety? It’s a term that’s used a lot but is often misunderstood. In this piece, the author answers the following questions with input from Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, who coined the phrase “team psychological safety”: 1) What is psychological safety? 2) Why is psychological safety important? 3) How has the idea evolved? 4) How do you know if your team has it? 5) How do you create psychological safety? 6) What are common misconceptions?"

https://hbr.org/2023/02/what-is-psychological-safety

In the Hybrid Workplace:

"The problem is, as the boundary between work and life becomes increasingly blurry, managers must make staffing, scheduling, and coordination decisions that take into account employees’ personal circumstances — a categorically different domain. Obviously, simply saying “just trust me” won’t work. Instead, the authors suggest a series of five steps to create a culture of psychological safety that extends beyond the work content to include broader aspects of employees’ experiences."

https://hbr.org/2021/04/what-psychological-safety-looks-like-in-a-hybrid-workplace

With Inclusion in Mind:

"Uncovering culture: A call to action for leaders. Uncovering culture explores the ways and extent to which US workers “cover”—that is, downplay known disfavored identities to fit into mainstream corporate cultures. This research questions orthodoxies of authenticity and power, including perceptions of psychological safety, to meaningfully move towards equity and belonging in the workforce."

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/uncovering-culture.html

I hope these might get you started, and I'd love to hear from folks on the list if you have other resources to share.

All the best,

Holly

WIT Weekly Wisdom: A  message for SUNY WIT list subscribers on the topics of Connecting, Learning, Stretching, Teaching, Reaching, and Balancing. 
Have a suggestion for a WIT Weekly Wisdom message? Contact Holly Heller-Ross @ hellerhb@plattsburgh.edu

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