Psychological Safety: An Imperative for High Performing Teams

Some of business’s greatest innovations originated from people willing to think out of the box and take a gamble on an “unlikely” idea.  Unfortunately, most of us find it a challenge to be open, think creatively, and take risks for fear of being criticized, judged, or even laughed at. That’s why psychological safety is a far more powerful tool than its name might suggest.    

This course will help you become familiar with the elements of psychological safety and how they relate to trust, high-performing teams and innovation. You’ll also learn how to apply psychological safety in your organization through a special capstone exercise. 

• Learn what comprises psychological safety, as well as the business imperative for it 
• Recognize the high-level science and research behind psychological safety 
• Enhance your understanding of healthy conflict and its value in fostering psychological safety 
• Experience how to build connection rapidly and with ease among team members 
• Gain more skill in utilizing courageous conversations 
• Recognize the mindsets and behaviors that impact psychological safety 
• Review case studies of organizations with high and low levels of psychological safety 
• Develop greater confidence creating environments that foster increased trust, belonging, and risk-taking, leading to higher levels of innovation, satisfaction, and performance 
• Practice using interpersonal skills to develop a climate of high psychological safety 
• Take ownership of supporting a culture of psychological safety 

• Defining psychological safety and discussing its benefits 
• Exploring the impact when psychological safety is not part of your team and organizational culture  
• Learning how remote and flexible work influence psychological safety 
• Discussing the people and business imperative for psychological safety 
• Exploring strategies to effectively engage all voices and manage diverse perspectives 
• Creating emotionally and socially intelligent practices to foster psychological safety 
• Identifying the behaviors that make us feel more psychologically secure 
• Influencing power structure drivers to develop a workplace of psychological safety  
• Exploring 3 crucial concepts in relation to psychological safety: trust, risk and vulnerability 
• Developing strategies for effective feedback delivery and healthy conflict management 
• Providing feedback to positively reinforce behaviors and celebrate success 
• Creating psychological safety in a virtual environment 
• Capstone Activity: Taking ownership of helping to develop a culture of psychological safety