There is a lot of talk on the importance of psychological safety, and how to instill it into the culture of a team or organization.
As is often the case within the domain of management work, the meaning of the term “Psychological Safety” can vary from one person to the next, and naturally with this variation in meaning comes variations in approaches to promote it. It generally refers to creating a culture where team members feel comfortable or ‘safe’ enough to voice their opinions and provide contradictory views without fear of unfair ramifications. There is quite a lot of noise about this currently trendy subject (the term is trendy, but the issues are not new). Here I want to look at just one aspect.
In recent training sessions with a client, it stood out to me that the most common reason members of a team gave for not speaking up and voicing contrary ideas or opinions, was because they felt they did not understand enough of the Context.
One team member said during a debrief, “I assumed the leader knew a reason why my idea wouldn’t work and that's why they hadn't suggested it so I kept quiet ''. If people in your team feel like they do not know enough information they might be reluctant to contribute productively for fear of looking stupid or overstepping their role. They may feel psychologically unsafe. In this instance the context needed is that the leader does not have the answers and is looking for ideas. This is often not clear at work, and the leader’s behavior can send the wrong message.
Context also contributes when it comes to explaining decisions. By ensuring your team has the context, especially for why an idea wasn't chosen, can help team members understand decisions even if they may not agree with them. This will help them to not feel put down when their ideas are not chosen. They will be more likely to contribute again. Context up front also improves the quality of their contributions.
This is just one of the many reasons why providing context is such an important part of a manager's role, whether it's part of how you assign tasks or talk about decisions. It is also an example how doing the work of your role can go a long way to ensuring you drive the behaviors and culture you want in your team or organization.
If you want to discuss the importance of context, or need help building it into your management work and the way your teams work together, reach out to us at HBA. We would love to connect!
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