Have you ever wondered what the highest performing teams have in common? It’s not having the fanciest applications, it’s not using cutting edge gadgets, and it’s not working at state-of-the-art facilities. While these things certainly do help in making for a very effective team, they’re not a requirement.

So what, then, is that key element that all high performing teams have? It’s simple, really. These teams are built upon trust, and because they are built on trust, they have psychological safety.

Harvard Business Review professor Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as “a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.”

In other words, it is the mindset where people feel that it is okay to ask questions, it is okay to have misunderstandings and clear them up, it is okay to speak their mind, it is okay to make mistakes, and that it is okay to be vulnerable. They feel that in the environment they exist in, they will not be punished for asking questions, for making mistakes, for giving suggestions, and for speaking their thoughts

Back during the Stone Age, our ancestors relied on something known as the fight-or-flight Response that allowed them to have a keener sense of focus and more readily available energy to help them respond quickly to perceived threats and dangers. The fight-or-flight response played a big role in the survival of the human race, and it is hardwired into each of us to activate once we perceive danger. In today’s society, survival is less about escaping from predators and more about trying to get through everyday’s challenges, stresses, and anxieties.

At work, interestingly, there are a lot of situations that we can perceive as threatening and thus invoke a fight-or-flight response. Getting told off by the boss, interacting with a coworker we are not particularly fond of, or having dismissive team members can be seen as threats and activate the fight-or-flight response, which in turn overtakes our brain.

The problem is that the fight-or-flight response is an “act first, think later” sort of thinking pattern because it used to urge our ancestors into escaping and reacting to danger. While that is good for when our ancestors escaped from predators - and for some of today’s situations such as jumping out of the way of a speeding truck - it is a hindrance to the strategic and analytical thinking that is required in the workplace

The success of a team - and eventually the whole organization - relies not on the “act first, think later” thinking which is caused by a feeling of being threatened. The success of a team relies on the positive emotions that come from the presence of psychological safety.

These positive emotions - trust, confidence, curiosity, inspiration among others - broaden our minds and help us build on our physical, emotional, and social resources. As a result, we become more open-minded, resilient, motivated, persistent, humorous, and solution-finding and divergent thinking go up.

These positive emotions are easier to sustain in a workplace that is not threatening but challenging, and this causes trust to form in the team. And as Paul Staganta, Head of Industry at Google, said, “There’s no team without trust.

Psychological safety is not only the job of the team leader, but the team members as well. So it is important that we all take note of the following and keep them in mind when working with our teams.

In achieving psychological safety in your teams, keep in mind CHERIS

In most workplaces, there exists a strong culture of senior and subordinate where the senior is the only one with the right to speak his mind and the subordinates don’t do anything but to nod and say yes. This is an extremely unhealthy culture, and does nothing but breed negative emotions of fear, seniority, and disrespect.

Remember that communication is 2-way. Just as you have something you wish to say, other people around you have something they wish to say, too. Just as you have an idea for a solution, other people around have their ideas as well. Listen as much as you speak, and don’t be afraid to speak and have others listen.

Remember that you are dealing with another human being. And this person - this human being - needs and wants to be respected, treated as competent, protect his social status, and have autonomy. If these needs are met, trust begins to form. Paul Santaganta led his team through a reflection called “Just Like Me” and it goes as such:

• This person has beliefs, perspectives, and opinions. Just like me.
• This person has hopes, anxieties, and vulnerabilities. Just like me.
• This person has friends, family, and perhaps children who love them. Just like me.
• This person wants to feel respected, appreciated, and competent. Just like me.
• This person wishes for peace, joy, and happiness. Just like me.

It might be useful for everyone in your team to go through this reflection as well

Think of conflict not as a fight, but a brainstorming session. People tend to avoid conflict because they have this negative notion of it being a fight to win and defend one’s self, which is a toxic and unhealthy mindset.

However, conflict can be healthy and beneficial to the people taking part in it because it is how people can come up with the best idea possible. And so, when conflicts take place, remember that a success is only a success if it has a win-win outcome. Prevent the situation from becoming threatening by asking, “How can we achieve an outcome that is beneficial or desirable to all of us?

John Gottman’s research at the University of Washington shows that blame and criticism escalates conflict, which leads to defensiveness, and eventually disengagement. Keep in mind that if you believe you already know what the other party is thinking, then you’re not fit to have a conversation. It is much better to know that you don’t have all the facts and adopt a learning mindset. Here are some tips on how to do so:

• Use factual and neutral language, and state the problem as an observation. 
  • Example: “There has been a noticeable drop in your participation recently, and progress appears to be slow.”
• Engage in exploration.
  • Example: “There may be several causes of this. Can you help me think of what they are?”
• Ask them for solutions. People who create a problem often have the solution to that problem themselves, and that’s why their participation and input usually produces positive results.
  • Example: “What do you think we should do?” or “How can I support you?”

It is important that our audience hears the content of the message rather than them hearing an attack on their identity or ego, and this can be done by anticipating how they will react to what you will say. For example, sensitive issues are usually met with defensiveness. In such situations, you may need to have concrete evidence as a counter.

Paul Santagata plans ahead by looking at what you will say from a 3rd person perspective, which will expose weaknesses in what you are planning to say and allow you to rethink your position. Some specific questions he asks himself are:

• What are my main points?
• What are three ways my listeners are likely to respond?
• How will I respond to each of those scenarios?

Our end goal, after all, is to develop psychological safety in our teams. It only makes sense to measure it from time to time. You can ask your team on a regular basis how safe they feel and what could enhance their feeling of safety, just as Santagata does.

Let people comment on your delivery. Asking for feedback on how you delivered your message helps you improve by letting you know if there are problems in your communication skills. It also models fallibility, which ultimately increases trust in you. Santagata closes difficult conversations by asking the following:

• What worked and what didn’t work in my delivery?
• How did it feel to hear this message?
• How could I have presented it more effectively

The greatest leaders have always been those that are steadfast and unwavering, those who are confident, and those who can guide us through uncertain and complex situations because they have experience and knowledge from past endeavors.

However, there will come crises that are so new and unfamiliar that there is no way to lean on past data and experience. This can be in the form of a large-scale natural disaster, a viral video, or a pandemic among others.

The instinct of great leaders would be to look strong, to be confident, to seem unaffected, and be unwavering to inspire their teams. But it won’t work. In times of such crises, such forms of leadership will not provide psychological safety. In times of such crises, we have to take on a different approach.

Communicate with transparency. And communicating often. When an upheaval comes and starts throwing everything out of order, people like to pretend that they know what to do. But how do they know what to do in a new, unknown situation? We don’t, and pretending that we know the answers or the path forward isn’t helpful at all. In an unfamiliar situation, it is important that we admit what we don’t know, and this honesty creates more psychological safety for those around us.

And so during such unfamiliar situations, instead of keeping to ourselves, we must communicate even more than before. As CEO of Delta Airlines Ed Bastian says, it is far more important to communicate when you don’t have the answers than when you do.

In these times, there is more attention paid to the work being done than the people doing work. This leaves us all with a feeling of being threatened and endangered in the workplace, which in turn causes further drop in effectiveness.
We must make sure that our workplace has psychological safety where people feel that they will not be punished for speaking their thoughts, for making mistakes, and for asking questions. Such an environment makes people feel heard, seen, and contribute to a sense of belonging nurtures trust, confidence, curiosity, inspiration, and a host of other good qualities that will lead a team to success.

In times of great upheaval, we tend to get complacent and just rely on what we know. That doesn’t always work, and we must remember to put in effort to contribute to a healthy work environment.

Remember, don’t be complacent and CHERISH what you have