Nurturing the Workplace with Purpose and Team Psychological Safety
A Fresh Start
As we enter a new year, it's an opportune moment for teams to reflect on their journey and how to best move forward in 2024. These are two key questions to start the conversation:
What is your team doing well? What can be done differently?
It might then be a perfect time for recalibration, focusing on deeper purpose and learning about Team Psychological Safety. In today's fast-paced business world, where profits often take center stage, there is a growing recognition of the importance of taking the time to reflect, to come together and to set meaningful team goals. Purposeful and psychologically safe goals encompass personal and collective aspirations that have the power to positively transform the workplace, foster deeper connections and engagement, increasing motivation and certainly accelerating performance.
Team Psychological Safety (TPS) helps deepening our connections and accelerate team performance.
The Essence of Purposeful Goals
Finding Purpose: Purposeful goals are not just about achieving business targets; they resonate with team members on a personal level. These goals align with individuals values and the organization's larger vision and mission to create a sense of belonging and value in the work being done. When goals have purpose, they resonate deeply with individuals, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment that goes beyond job responsibilities.
Enhancing Motivation: Understanding how their work contributes to a larger purpose boosts team members' motivation, particularly for millennials and Gen Z workers who statistically seek more than just a paycheck. Research consistently shows that finding purpose in work leads to higher engagement and productivity. When employees perceive their jobs as meaningful, they exhibit increased motivation and commitment, benefiting both themselves and the organization.
Boosting Morale and Retention: Purposeful goals contribute to higher job satisfaction, reducing turnover and creating a more stable and engaged team.
Aligning with Individual Values: Purposeful goals resonate with team members' personal values, fostering deeper engagement. Employees who find personal resonance with organizational goals often demonstrate enhanced performance. This alignment drives not only business success but also personal satisfaction and well-being.
Promoting Open Dialogue: Creating a psychologically safe space encourages open communication and ideation. Psychological safety leads to better decision-making, creativity, and problem-solving. It builds trust among team members, fostering a resilient team culture capable of effectively navigating challenges.
Building Trust and Resilience: Psychologically safe environments are fundamental in building trust among team members, as indicated by a study from the University of Massachusetts (UMass, 2017). This trust fosters a resilient team culture, capable of navigating challenges effectively.
What is Team Psychological Safety? A Cornerstone for Team Success
The Foundation: Psychological Safety, coined by Harvard Business School's Amy Edmondson, is foundational for effective teamwork and high performance. In simple terms, it involves creating an environment where team members feel safe to take risks and voice their opinions without fear of embarrassment or retribution.
Encouraging Innovation and Creativity: Psychological safety fosters open communication, inclusivity, and innovation. In psychologically safe teams, members feel empowered to think outside the box and propose innovative solutions.
Improving Team Dynamics: Trust and respect, stemming from psychological safety, are critical for collaboration and conflict resolution. Psychological safety has been identified as the most important dynamic for successful teams. It fosters open communication, mutual respect, and a supportive team dynamic, crucial for collaborative success.
Balancing Business Objectives with Personal Joy and Satisfaction: Integrating personal and collective joy into team goals is crucial for long-term engagement and satisfaction. Currently, only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in their jobs, indicating a significant opportunity for improvement through more holistic goal setting.
Personal Development: Goals should include components of personal growth, skill enhancement, and career advancement.
Celebrating Successes: Acknowledging both small wins and major achievements creates a positive atmosphere and reinforces a sense of accomplishment and joy.
Recognizing the Whole Person: Acknowledging team members' personal aspirations and well-being is essential. Workplace well-being significantly impacts overall health and productivity. Understanding that employees have lives outside work and considering their well-being in goal setting is vital.
Celebrating Success and Well-Being: Celebrating achievements, both professional and personal, contributes significantly to a positive and fulfilling work environment. Recognition-rich cultures have lower turnover rates, and acknowledging small wins boosts team morale and engagement.
Team Psychological Safety (TPS) is the cornerstone for team success.
Enhancing Team Performance through Psychological Safety and Action Learning
Psychological safety is increasingly significant in building high-performance teams. The team.as.one TPS (Team Psychological Safety) certification program, founded by Peter Cauwelier, aims to promote this shift. The certification, grounded in Amy Edmondson's work, focuses on effectively increasing psychological safety in teams. While the importance of psychological safety is recognized, there is a gap in research on practical methods to enhance it. There are challenges on how to increase and measure psychological safety. Traditional studies describe its significance, but offer limited guidance on fostering a psychologically safe environment. Addressing this gap requires specific behaviors to be encouraged, potential formal training, and tangible tools, skills and improvements in team psychological safety.
TEAM.AS.ONE - A Program for Transformative Change and FELIZ Consulting
Cauwelier's program offers a comprehensive approach to understanding and strengthening psychological safety within teams. It involves an anonymous survey based on Edmondson's key areas, providing a clear picture of a team's psychological safety level. The program integrates action learning, a problem-solving process that encourages collaboration and reflection to improve team dynamics. By combining psychological safety and action learning, teams can foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, support and growing high performance.
FELIZ Consulting is fortunate to be partnering with TEAM.AS.ONE and our CEO, Mônica Zionede Hall is now the first Hong Kong and China Master Facilitator accredited by Peter Cauwelier to deliver TPS (Team Psychological Safety) certification program in public workshops and customised to clients in the region.
In the pursuit of team success, it is essential to shift the focus from solely achieving business objectives to nurturing purposeful goals and psychological safety. Purposeful goals resonate with team members on a personal level, driving motivation, engagement, and job satisfaction. Psychological safety creates an environment where team members feel safe to take risks, contribute ideas, and collaborate effectively. This is very much in line with FELIZ Consulting’s core values and goals.
By integrating purpose and psychological safety into team goals, organisations can cultivate a culture of fulfillment, innovation, and high performance. Embracing this fresh start can lead to a more productive and satisfying work environment for teams in the year ahead. If you would like to hear more about TPS (Team Psychological Safety) certification and how we can help you, your teams and your company, please get in touch at [email protected]
References:
Grant, A. M. (2012). Leading with Meaning: Beneficiary Contact, Prosocial Impact, and the Performance Effects of Transformational Leadership. Academy of Management Journal.
Amabile, T., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). The Power of Small Wins. Harvard Business Review.
Deloitte (2014). Culture of Purpose Building Business Confidence; Driving Growth. Deloitte University Press.
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly.
Duhigg, C. (2016). What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team. The New York Times.
University of Massachusetts (2017). Trust In The Workplace.
Gallup (2017). State of the Global Workplace.
World Health Organization (2019). Mental Health in the Workplace.
Bersin, J. (2012). Making Recognition and Rewards Matter. Bersin by Deloitte.
https://researchoutreach.org/articles/building-high-performance-teams-team-psychological-safety/