There are various training methods to develop your skills and ensure your mental well being. One of these is psychological safety training that believes that an individual can speak up without the fear or risk of humiliation or punishment.
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Why is psychological safety important at the workplace?
Feeling safe around team members makes it easier for one to involve themselves in group work, team meetings and also collaborate on projects and engage appropriately. When one feels safe at their workplace, their natural creativity can flow smoothly and present better work. Also, all team members can work and flourish regardless of their colour, gender, race, political preference or background. This ensures one’s good mental health, as a healthy environment leads to nutritional, mental health.
The primary way to bring about a change at the workplace and introduce psychological safety is by politely engaging with the team and giving everyone a chance to keep their views without being bossy. One has to let go of their manipulative and egoistic nature and be more empathetic towards others. Building a form of trust amongst one another is crucial.
How can one ensure that their team is feeling safe at the workplace?
- One thing to notice is if people are comfortable enough to stand up and ask questions on matters they are unsure about or they try to portray as if they have enough knowledge when they don’t
- Is one comfortable raising any questions in a team meeting or raising questions informally after the meeting.
- Is one willing to learn after making a mistake or running away from it so that they aren’t blamed?
- Is one open to giving and receiving feedback, and how often do they do it?
- Do the team members ask each other for help?
The current state of Psychological safety:
Although the idea and concept of psychological safety have been embraced, it’s always a work in progress as it involves self-reflection, keeping one’s ego aside and keeping one’s views on the table. It is a continuously improving procedure.
Stages of Psychological Safety:
- Inclusion safety: This level of protection satisfies the basic need of connecting and belonging. In this stage, one feels safe and accepts who they are without judging or questioning their character.
- Learner safety: One feels safe to learn, experiment, and ask questions at this level or stage. One feels safe and open to giving and receiving feedback and also making mistakes.
- Contributor safety: In this stage, an individual feels safe enough to contribute with their skills.
- Challenger safety: The last stage finally gives one the courage to question any change or improvement they may find.
It has become quite an essential factor to have psychological safety everywhere. Researches have shown that lack of psychological safety has impacted mental health, stress, lack of focus and unexpressive behaviour, affecting education, work, happiness, etc. To solve this problem, the academy of brain-based leadership was launched. The main aim was to help organizations build a psychologically safe environment where people are empowered to be themselves, their needs are considered, and valued contributions. Out of any other academy, this has impacted the most. This academy has a group of experienced and knowledgeable teams which brings about a change in society.
Psychological safety has become essential as the primary thing is a human’s mental well being. People often neglect this without understanding its importance. In fact, psychological safety training aims to create an environment for risk-taking that welcomes change without fearing a negative impact on self-image, career or status. This ensures the psychological safety of individuals.
