Create buy-in for psychological safety in the workplace
Learn how to create buy-in for psychological safety at work
Imagine working in a space where there is absolute freedom to speak your mind. When you share an idea, people encourage you. When you bring up mistakes, you receive thanks and appreciation. People celebrate the fact that you brought up the dirt underneath the rug.
Psychological safety at work allows for more, innovation, collaboration, open communication, and healthy disagreement.
When people feel safe they can share ideas, which fuels creativity. They can share mistakes they made, which allows the team to learn. They can work with one another knowing that the team has their back. People want to show up to work and there is less turnover. If people don't feel safe, they aren't staying around.
Psychological safety in the workplace
Quick overview of psychological safety
“Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.” - Amy Edmonson.
It’s when people share their ideas, concerns, or mistakes, and know they will be supported by the people around them. It’s about focusing on what the team can do instead of blaming and putting someone down.
Think about someone you can be open with. Someone you can share your deepest fears and concerns with, and they support you no matter what. It could be a grandmother, a teacher, or a lifelong friend. One of the reasons you can share with them is because they help you feel psychologically safe.
Why worry about the buy-in?
To purposefully create a space of safety, people would need to buy into the idea of psychological safety. And sometimes that’s not as easy as you would think. How many times have you heard people push back against new ways of being?
Usually excuses like, “That's a silly idea, it would never work.” “We’ve tried that before and it didn't turn out well.” You even got an odd look when you said the words psychological safety.
Oftentimes those who need it the most can be the most resistant to the idea.
Whatever the reason may be, it's going to take effort to get buy-in for psychological safety.
And for the past 10+ years, I’ve worked with organizations and teams to help them develop a psychologically safe workplace. Where they went from feeling uncomfortable to opening up. Even challenging one another and enjoying themselves along the way. Feeling more like themselves because they can safely do so.
Understanding how people think provides us insight on how to create buy-in
Groups provide safety
Many people understand this concept, but it's worth repeating. When we form a connection to a group it helps meet our need to feel safe. Safety is a core human need.
Groups provide reassurance and belonging
One of the cool things about being part of a group is the reassurance it gives us. We are surrounded by those who think like us, which feels good. Finding those who share the same values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors can help us feel empowered.
It creates a sense of belonging, like when you put peanut butter and jelly on a sandwich. Also, you generally see the other people in the group as good people because they have similar values and beliefs as you do.
Have you ever felt excited to see someone wearing your favorite team jersey or superhero shirt? Or a car drives by and they’re playing that song that you love! We immediately feel some sort of connection to them because “they get it”. Feeling like we are part of that group gives us the warm and fuzzies.
The biggest challenge around getting buy-in for psychological safety
The us vs. them dynamic
When we see someone who has a different opinion, value, or belief than us, we start seeing the person as the “other”. They are not a part of our group, and we believe our group is right. So if we are right then that other group must be wrong.
What’s happening subconsciously
If our group starts to think that the other group is right, then that means our group is wrong. But as a group we would never want to seem wrong, so instead of looking to change our beliefs it’s easier for us to “stay right”.
Here comes the kicker. What causes the divisive dynamic is believing that “right is good” and “wrong is bad”. Since no group believes they are bad, they become defensive. They fight to stay good and right. They do this by viewing the other group as being wrong and bad which creates an “us vs them” dynamic.
Psychological safety in the workplace
So when someone disagrees about psychological safety, these are their subconscious, automatic thoughts.
If your concept of “psychological safety” does not align with their values, that means that you must be wrong and bad. Which makes them believe they are right and good. So they will stick to their guns and not buy into psychological safety at work.
It’s common to have automatic thoughts of us vs. them
To be clear, not everyone is actively thinking you are bad because you think differently than them. But underneath their awareness, this is often what is happening.
Have you ever felt a touch of dislike for someone who was wearing a sports team that you don’t like? Or if you are a Batman fan and you see someone wearing a Superman shirt. For a brief moment, we have a mentality of “us vs. them”.
Now to be clear, this does not make us or them bad people. This happens for most of us in a variety of ways. Luckily, the more we work on ourselves the less these automatic thoughts will happen.
How to create buy-in
Even with us vs. them in the way, we can still create buy-in. That’s the good news. We can break through the barrier of right/good vs bad/wrong. We can connect in a way that creates understanding and collaboration.
The process has many different steps. I’d like to share a few ways you can start creating buy-in for psychological safety at work.
Understand your why
Let's start off by looking at your intent. Why do you want to create buy-in for psychological safety? There are plenty of good reasons. Having an environment where people feel comfortable to openly speak up. Creating a more innovative culture. The ability to challenge one another in a productive way and deepens relationships.
These are all great! Now for a harder question. Is there a small part of you that has a desire to be seen as the right one? If so, you are very normal, and now a bit more aware.
Sometimes holding on to this belief can make it difficult to connect with others who have different values. But you can set aside the concept of good vs bad, right vs wrong. When you do that, it’s easier to see those who have different values with clear, non-judgmental eyes.
Would you rather be right or effective in getting buy-in for psychological safety?
Learn their why
There can be a million different reasons why someone isn’t buying into a psychologically safe in the workplace.
Maybe they are planning to retire and are scared to rock the boat.
Maybe they don’t understand what you’re talking about
Maybe they don't see psychological safety the same way you do.
Maybe they had a previous boss who shut them down and they carry that fear with them.
Maybe they're tired and the idea of something new sounds exhausting.
Maybe they don’t think it’s possible.
The point here is that you may not know why someone does or doesn't want to do something. And the only way to know is to hear it from them. And even then they may not be fully honest because they don't feel safe to do so.
How to help them feel safe enough to open up
Work to SHOW understanding
Now, with judgment-free ears, it's time to learn why they don’t buy into psychological safety in the workplace.
As you work to understand others, it's helpful to go beyond listening. Helping people feel heard requires different tools than just listening to what someone says.
Go beyond hearing them
Have you ever talked to someone who was looking at you, but you weren't sure if they were listening? They’re not responding to what you’re saying. Their eyes darted to different places. Their body language is closed off.
You start to wonder if they’re thinking about something else. If they’re bored or they don’t care about what’s being said. There can be a lot of uncertainty when it comes to knowing if people are listening to you.
Help people feel safe to share their thoughts by showing them you understand them.
Three psychologically safe behaviors that show understanding
So what behaviors can you use to understand those who haven’t bought into psychological safety?
Ask clarifying questions
Ask clarifying questions to deepen your understanding of their beliefs and values. Be mindful not to use leading questions, but open-ended questions.
Leading question - Do you think psychological safety can help others?
Open question - When you hear psychological safety, what does that mean to you?
Leading questions - Do you see how psychological safety will benefit you?
Open question - What have you heard or learned about what psychological safety does?
A word of caution. If you ask question after question, it can feel a little intrusive. Be sure to include the other behaviors, which we will discuss in the following sections.
Asking clarifying questions helps show that you are interested in them. Coming from a place of true curiosity will help people feel more comfortable sharing their views on psychological safety. It allows you to help them feel safe to open up.
Don’t parrot, reflect
One way you can show understanding is to reflect back what someone said.
Parroting is using the same words they said, which is very easy to do. It shows you heard them, but it doesn’t help someone feel confident that you understand them.
Reflection shows that you are processing what they are saying. A simple way to reflect is to say what they said while using different words. If you want to light someone up, reflect back on what they said in a way that shows you understand how they feel, better than they do.
Psychological safety in the workplace
Share personal stories
Now that you’ve shown curiosity and understanding, it's time to help create a connection. One of the simplest forms of connection is by sharing how you relate to what they said. This reduces the “us vs. them” dynamic.
Throughout this process look to see where you can connect to this person (don’t force it or lie). Share a personal story that relates to what was said. It doesn't have to be specific to psychological safety, just something that shows a connection between you two.
Maybe it's the struggles of being a parent. The uncertainty of having a job in the future. The wish to do better with your health. The deliciousness of ice cream.
They start thinking: “Okay, this person is genuinely interested in what I have to say. They understand me to the point where they can relate. This shows that we have similar values, so they are in my ‘group’.”
These behaviors help people feel like you are on their side. They create a togetherness, instead of us vs them dynamic.
These are some of the foundational steps you can take to create buy-in for a psychologically safe workplace.
Looking to create psychological safety in the workplace?
Our psychological safety workshop provides an excellent opportunity to jump-start psychological safety at work. We create an environment and process that supports you and your team to work together towards creating safety.
Our workshops are:
Safe
Inclusive
Equitable
Empowering
Productive
Helping your team develop a deeper sense of empathy for their peers. Your team will leave with clear, actionable behaviors of how to create a safe space. They will feel like the experts in the room, which helps create buy-in.
Want to learn more about our process, click below to sign up for a free consultation. Lets’ see how we can help you and your team create a safer environment.