Psychological Safety in Practice: A Guidebook for Managers
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18
Individual and Team Exercise
To assess whether you feel safe to learn and grow in your role, ask yourself these
questions. Encourage team members to ask themselves the same questions. Again,
invite them to submit responses anonymously so that you can use findings to reinforce or
improve the sense of safety on your team.
Are you very, somewhat, or not comfortable at all with:
Communicating your goals and achievements.
Speaking up, volunteering a concern.
Giving feedback to a colleague.
Asking a colleague to clarify a particular point.
Raising a different point of view in a conference call.
Asking a colleague for feedback on a report.
Admitting that a project is over budget or behind schedule
" Employees are unlikely to change their behaviors if failure is not an option—instead,
they will respond to crises or transformational opportunities by hiding problems
that will inevitably arise when trying new things, averting the risks that come with
innovation and change, and being afraid to ask questions. Organizations that have
cultivated a resilience response emphasize psychological safety (or the idea that taking
some personal risks can be OK) and continuous learning. Business leaders in these
companies continually ask teams—and themselves—whether they feel as though
they have the space to bring up concerns or dissent, whether they fear retribution
for mistakes, whether they trust others, and whether they feel valued for their unique
skills and talents. Based on the answers to these questions, business leaders can
take steps to better support their employees."
— Raising the Resilience of Your Organization
1
McKinsey & Company
1 Maor, D., Park, M., Weddle, B., [2022] Raising the Resilience of Your Organization, McKinsey & Company, retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/
people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/raising-the-resilience-of-your-organization
