Last night, I had the pleasure of moderating a Hacking HR panel discussion on psychological safety in teams. Our discussion on connecting psychological safety and team management provided many illuminating perspectives.

Psychological safety enables innovation, reduces turnover, and gets people working at their highest potential. However, it starts at the individual level – leaders must know themselves and model vulnerability to create trust.

My Key Insights:

1. Psychological safety is crucial for team performance and starts with individual vulnerability. Leaders must know themselves and model taking risks by sharing failures to build trust across the team.

2. Balancing care and accountability requires clear goals, continuous assessment, and varied input opportunities so that teams can safely contribute their best work. Feedback and development happen openly with a shared understanding of expectations.

3. Cultivating psychological safety is an ongoing process that leaders must discuss regularly to embed it in the team culture. Strategies like icebreakers, celebrating wins, and coaching managers can help operationalize insights from research into tangible best practices.

Thank you Noelle Peart, SHRM-SCP, Beth Messich, ACC, and Anuja Rathi for sharing your invaluable expertise and insights. I’ve gained tremendously valuable lessons that I’m excited to apply. It was truly a pleasure hosting our discussion.

Linkedin Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rodhutchings_hackinghr-psychologicalsafety-thoughtleadership-activity-7189055401726824448-IM3X?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

You can watch a replay here: