Unlocking creativity and innovation with psychological safety

The term ‘psychological safety’ has captured the attention of many in the business world over recent years, but how does this play a part in the employee experience, and how does it empower your teams to flourish?  

Psychologically safe teams trust each other. They offer ideas, voice opinions, and say how they really feel – all without judgement. This shared belief among team members is extremely important for every employee to be able to communicate openly and honestly.

In order for your teams to be creative or to be able to bring brand-new ideas to the table, they’ve got to feel that the ideas will be accepted – and heard – by those around them. Without psychological safety, employees will feel that they will be shut down, judged, or ignored, whenever they speak up. 

Many organisations rely on their employees to explore new ways of thinking, being constantly encouraged to “think outside the box”, generate fresh ideas, and drive the business forward. But without psychological safety, this often doesn’t happen. Without your employees feeling able to discover new ways of thinking, there’s no creativity. And without creativity, there’s a lack of business outcomes.

So, with all of this in mind – how can you create a workplace that talks?

Get to know your employees

It’s important for leaders to find out what their employees need to feel safe to speak-up, and if they don’t feel safe, how can leaders understand why and make positive change… 

This can be done by simply asking your employees. Surveying your teams anonymously allows your employees to speak the truth, helping you to see the valuable and honest feedback they may be otherwise wary of sharing. This also helps develop a stronger feeling of psychological safety at work. Once you have this information you can then create changes that help your employees to feel more comfortable speaking up and sharing their thoughts and ideas. 

On top of this, it is also important for your employees to be able to work with each other in a way that is best for everyone. When it’s clear how each individual likes to work, this will improve your organisation’s work as a whole. For example, If your company uses Slack, you could create a field for each employee to fill out on their profile about their working style – e.g “Feel free to ask for feedback, but give me time to collect my thoughts”.

Become an active listener

We’ve all had moments when we know that we’re not being properly listened to. If your employees experience this, they will be less likely to speak up in the future. This is why all of today’s leaders should make sure to become active listeners. 

Active listening is about being a thoughtful listener. This means asking questions and understanding your employees from different perspectives. This way you’ll have the ability to really understand what is being said, as well as the person in the conversation feeling confident that they’re being heard – this gives them confidence that they can talk freely without being judged. If they are upset, showing empathy through active listening will help them feel less isolated and will help them calm down.

Active listening helps establish trust between yourself and the person you’re speaking with and creates an environment of psychological safety. It shows them that you’re willing to really listen to what they’re saying and offer support to them too.

Active listening is especially important in busy organisations where jobs are coming in and out frequently. After all, how accurately you receive information can determine a project’s success. When you’re the listener, don’t assume that you understand everything correctly — or that the person speaking knows you’ve heard them. Use reflection (an active listening technique) that indicates that you and the other person are on the same page. Summarise what you have heard and confirm this with the 

Let people be creative at all costs 

Don’t be scared to empower your employees at the risk of mistakes being made. Harvard Business School was surprised to find that in a recent study, the best performing teams made the most mistakes. However, it was these teams’ openness to try new things – with a willingness to discuss what worked and what didn’t – that contributed to both their high performance and the high number of mistakes. 

In the same manner, exploring some creative ideas can be risky. This risk often stops organisations from fully embracing psychological safety – but leaders have to accept that at times things will go wrong (and that’s okay!). This risk can largely be avoided by planning too, if you have a backup plan in case anything doesn’t go to plan, the damage is limited and your employees will continue to feel safe and able to think creatively.

To encourage this divergent way of thinking you could start by asking your team members to come up with solutions to a problem your company is currently facing. Make a point to consider every proposed idea as this will encourage creativity in the future. 

If you’d like to read more about how to create a safe workplace that talks, check out our Little Book of Big Conversations, which is a free eBook available to download below. 

You’ll learn how to:

• How to create a workplace that talks
• How to master active listening
• How to manage mental health conversations
• How to ask the right questions, in the right way