What Makes a Great Team?
Two Words, psychological safety.
The idea of psychological safety has been around for decades. Early research into this area was pioneered by Amy Edmonson, Edgar Schein, and Warren Bennis. Each of these researchers helped us understand how and why psychological safety is THE foundation for high performing teams.
So why then, if it’s been a concept so thoroughly studied for decades, are we suddenly seeing such widespread focus today on building psychological safety?
Because employees are burned out and they simply won’t stay if they don’t feel like they belong. Or, if they do stay, engagement and productivity slide and well-being is lost. If the “great resignation” has shown us anything at all, it’s that employees want leaders who care about them, they are demanding better and more flexible ways of working, for greater acceptance and belonging, and higher purpose. They want to be valued.
Timothy Clark, a practicing cultural anthropologist digs into psychological safety a bit further and shows how it follows a unique progression based on our fundamental needs as human beings*. The four stages go like this:
1. Humans want to be included
2. Humans want to learn
3. Humans want to contribute
4. Humans want to challenge the status quo when they see things need change.
When individuals feel included, safe to learn and contribute, and safe to challenge the status quo, organizations will begin to reap the benefits in the form of high innovation and productivity.
As we move forward in this decade and focus on ensuring that we are building strong and highly diverse teams (and if this is not your focus, please do your homework and the math), it is more crucial than ever to purposefully cultivate environments where individuals are safe to be fully human.
We know that the great resignation can’t last forever, that this job-seekers market will come to an end and force people to remain sometimes “stuck” in a role that doesn’t fulfill them. So, as an organization it’s time to do something, to put your people first. I love the anonymous quote that goes like this: “CFO asks CEO: ‘What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?’ CEO: ‘What happens if we don’t and they stay?’”
At The Huuman Group™, we help organizations craft immediate change by identifying and addressing behavior change that leads to positive team outcomes. Using a blend of group + individual coaching alongside learning and listening experiences, we help leaders and teams progress through this evolution by strengthening the muscles around empathy, self-awareness, trust and connection.
If we want GREAT teams, we simply cannot move forward without an intentional plan on how to get there. Without psychological safety, we will fail to produce, engage, retain, and maximize our full potential. It’s that simple.
*Clark, Timothy. 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. 2020, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Oakland, CA.