Have you ever sat in a meeting feeling nervous about speaking? Maybe you are unsure about the comment or suggestion you want to make, or maybe you are concerned about how to start what you want to say in the melee of others voicing their ideas. Whatever the reason, creating a culture where people can speak up, want to speak up, and get listened to when they do speak up is crucial to drive innovation, productivity and performance.
Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is a word which has been used much more in recent years related to workplaces, despite being huge in the academic world for many years before this.
Psychological Safety is the shared belief within a team or organisation that individuals can speak up, share ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of humiliation, punishment, or negative repercussions.
Amy Edmondson, an eminent Harvard Professor, coined the term psychological safety after she found that high-performing teams foster an environment where people feel safe to take interpersonal risks e.g. challenging ideas, seeking help or admitting failures and mistakes. The key here, is if you are worried about speaking up in a meeting, it could be because you don’t feel psychologically safe, or it could be because you don’t have the communication tools, techniques, confidence or ability to voice your thoughts.
Have a think:
- Do I feel trusted and respected in my organisation so that I can speak up without fear of negative repercussions?
- Do we have a culture which promotes questions, queries, suggestions and challenge of ideas?
- Does our culture allow people to admit and learn from mistakes, or do we have a blame culture?
- Do team members assume positive intent and support each other?
- Can every voice be heard, ensuring a truly inclusive culture, as opposed to just a select few being heard?
I
n regards to specific meetings, it can be challenging to break into the conversation at times. However, with the right approach, everyone can ensure their voice is heard.
Practical Tips
Our top practical tips are below:
- Prepare in advance, know the agenda, the topics and do your research ahead of the meeting if unsure about anything.
- Have a clear idea about your thoughts, questions and what you want to contribute before the meeting starts. This ensures your input is relevant.
- Get involved in the conversation early, this can be just agreeing with someone speaking, voicing that it’s a good idea or showing you are truly listening to what they are saying. This ensures you are involved in the conversation and makes it more difficult for you to be sidelined.
- Use your body language, as people who sit up straight, don’t hunch over, maintain eye contact and focus on their physical presence find this helps them speak with authority. Mirroring others’ behaviours, ensuring you physically engage, such as nodding in agreement or using your body to signal you want to say something can be extremely powerful.
- When you do speak, focus on brevity and ensure relevance. To be concise, simple statements like ‘From my experience . . .’, ‘I have a question about . . .’ or ‘I would like to add’ can be powerful statements and ensure others find it easy to follow what you are saying.
- At times, ask well-thought-out questions. Often a great question can provide the catalysts for a conversation to focus on areas which you may have seen being missed or overlooked. Questions are a great way to get involved, show you are listening and demonstrate how you are seeking to understand. Often, many other people in the room will wish they had asked the same question.
- Use constructive challenge, especially if you disagree – it is important to be diplomatic to ensure people hear what you have to say. Phrases such as ‘Have we considered …’, ‘I see it slightly differently because . . . ‘, or ‘I am not sure, however . . .’ can help especially when said with a strong, steady tone.
As a leader it is vital that you create psychologically safe environments which help empower people to speak up. Watching how people respond to each other, giving feedback and role modelling how to effectively listen and take on board other people’s ideas is crucial. Even when you think ideas are not relevant, impractical or a waste of time it is important not to show this through your body language and your responses as if people see this they will stop speaking up, no matter how much you ask them to.
To understand the levels of psychological safety in your organisation use our free measure, or book a free 30-minute consultation to discuss in more detail.
