teamwork

Psychological safety—a shared belief among team members that it’s OK to speak up with candor—has become a popular concept. However, as its popularity has grown, so too have misconceptions about it. Such misunderstandings can lead to frustration among leaders and employees, stymie constructive debates, and ultimately harm organizational performance. In this article the authors identify the following six common misperceptions: Psychological safety means being nice; it means getting your way; it means job security; it requires a trade-off with performance; it’s a policy; and it requires a top-down approach. They explain why each misperception gets in the way and give advice on how to counter it. They also offer leaders a blueprint for building the kind of strong, learning-oriented work environment that is crucial for success in an uncertain world. Leaders should clearly communicate what psychological safety is and what it isn’t, and take steps to improve the quality of conversations and to establish structures and rituals that will help teams assess their progress in building a psychologically safe environment.

“Why not try to be upfront and avoid a lot of the conflict?”

Not that long ago, teams were typically composed of people with similar skills working in the same place. Their efforts were based on the idea that by working together in a well-managed process, they could deliver replicable results. Today, companies of all types are called on to demonstrate integrated, cross-functional, project-based teamwork in their operations. New ideas about teamwork are emerging, some based on experience, some guided by new practices, some made up on the fly. But none of this has yet cohered into a systematic approach to improving how teams work. In this article, the authors set out new principles of teamwork that focus on continuous, real-time testing, learning, analysis, adaptation, and improvement.

‘Loud laborers’ are employees who place more emphasis on making their work known, rather than “focusing on the work itself,” said workplace expert Nicole Price.