Psychological Safety in Uncertain Times

Rooting people leaders in the psychological basics is extremely crucial, especially in times of change and uncertainty.

As we experience wavering social and environmental circumstances, providing a level of support and community that does not waver, is extremely beneficial for everyone on an individual and organizational level.

While we navigate these obstacles both personally and professionally, we are all going through this... together.

And no matter our role, we are all in need of Psychological Safety in order to thrive despite the circumstances being what they are.

The Real Concern Is Our People, Not The Work

In times like these, as so many of us are moving into the virtual work space, some common questions have been...

    How do we make sure our people are working?

    How do we keep our projects organized?

    How do we manage virtually?

While these are sensible questions, maybe the right questions are...

   How do we ensure our people are okay?

   How do we keep our people supported?

   How do we serve virtually?

The hard questions are typically the most influential questions. And those are the questions we need to be asking those looking to us for guidance.

   How are you feeling about everything?

   What's going on in your life right now?

   How is the family doing with all of this?

   Is there anything weighing on you this week?

   How could I make things 10% easier for you?

It’s the difficult questions that cultivate effective communication.

Great leaders focus on getting people IN SHAPE to work, and then focus on the work.

One of the biggest defining factors for great leadership is communication. While we often think of communication as a matter of speaking and debating, great leaders understand that effective communication is about listening and authentic dialogue.

Oftentimes we may stray away from these conversations in attempts to separate personal and professional. The issue with this is that in these times with the younger generation of professionals, relationships and work culture drive success, retention, and performance. 

Communication: If you’re doing it right, it gets personal.

 Honor Their Humanness

We are all human and experiencing psychological hurdles. Sometimes the best thing leaders can do is open the floor for their team members to express themselves and then validate their feelings.

The most positive thing leaders can do to help and develop a strong bond with their teams is to listen to "negative feelings" they’re having, validate them, and assure their teams that they have their support moving forward.

Validation is not “I totally understand, I went through the same thing (insert your own story).” 

Validation is “Wow, thank you for being so vulnerable with me. I can see why that's weighing heavy on you. That's a lot to carry. And while I can't fix that for you as much as I wish I could, what I can do is be here for you, now and moving forward.”

Often times, leaders will try to fix everything but it’s ok not to have all the answers. Sometimes being transparent is the best thing leaders can do. For example, they can model acceptance of uncertainty by saying, "this is what we do know, and this is what we don't know.”

These types of conversations are important because they provide insights to help ground our people and people managers, while also fostering genuine bonds built upon trust.

Shift from being a rescuer, to a listening validator. 

Create A Meeting Starter Check-In Ritual

Establishing a meeting starter check-in ritual can be helpful to set the tone and essentially clear out any negative energy. Leaders should have the goal of creating a safe space where their people can escape from the stressors of everyday life, rather than becoming apart of the stress weighing on their shoulders. 

Some examples of Meeting Starter Check-In Rituals would be…

Incorporating a breathing exercise for 3 minutes at the opening of meetings which increases endorphins (“the feel good chemical”) and slows your heart rate to lower cortisol (“the stress hormone”) and signals the brain to relax.

Pulling a card from Icebreaker each week to establish a connection through questions and listening, formulating a bonding experience even despite being virtual.

Rose, Bud, Thorn in which each member talks about what’s blooming in their life (what’s going good), what’s budding (what’s in the process), and what the thorn in their side is (what’s weighing heavy on them this week). 

You can also ask per team or per individual when and how they want to check in. 

During Meeting Starter Check-Ins, here are some discussion questions…

   What's on your list for this week?

   Do you have any questions or concerns for the week?

   How did last week go?

   What's working well, what's been stressful?

   How's the workload? 

   Do we need to prioritize some of these tasks?

   Is there anything you need from me?

Keep That Same Energy

Whatever you do to boost the energy, find a way to bring it to the virtual space. If you do happy hours, stand ins, team functions, etc. still do those with a virtual twist.

Although you may have to be inventive, try to provide that consistency for your people. In times of uncertainty and disruption, consistency can be so comforting.

 Equipping People Leaders

Team Leads and Managers need to be considered and cared for as well. In the concept of humanness, we have to keep in mind that all people leaders are not the same. Some leaders may struggle with asking those open questions or maybe they’re unsure how to navigate through their own stress. 

Providing guidance for our people leaders whether that’s Script Questions leaders can ask their team members or Check-In Trackers to organize the many zooms, google meets, and virtual check-ins required of them. 

We have to keep in mind our people work for the company, but our people leaders work for the people. In acknowledging that, we must ensure our leaders are prepared, valued, and heard as well.

Recognition Without Appreciation Is Just A Pat On The Back

Peer Recognition is behavior and action based which neurologically satisfies the left hemisphere of the brain. Appreciation is relationship and value based which satisfies the right hemisphere of the brain. 

When those two are tied together, it provides an empowering and gratitude filled environment that drives performance and connection at the same time.

Don’t use Peer Recognition WITHOUT Appreciation to say, “good job selling x-amount of money for our company,” but rather use Peer Recognition WITH Appreciation to say, “thank you for being such an amazing person, an exceptional team member, and a value bringer.”

 While it can be difficult to establish Social Sensitivity & Authentic Dialogue, these are the two components required for cultivating a Psychological Safe Haven that stands the test of time and pandemic. 

Do your team members and leaders need help with those conversations?

Let us help - It’s what we do at Grow Dialogue!