Management and Leadership

Creating Psychological Safety at Work

---

• Traditional Classroom: ½-day
• Virtual Instructor-led: One 3-hour session or Two 90-minute sessions

A work culture of psychological safety fosters true learning, critical thinking, innovation, and growth. Candor and creativity are embraced, and mistakes are framed as opportunities to grow. In a psychologically safe environment, employees are encouraged to share their voices and think outside the box, and they feel welcome to bring their full, authentic selves to work.

What does it take to create and sustain psychological safety at work? What behaviors cultivate mutual respect and trust? What actions and norms erode it? And how do we stimulate productive conflict while continuing to strengthen relationships and enhance team performance? In this session we will explore the four stages of psychological safety, identifying concrete behaviors that create — and take away from — a positive, productive, and healthy work culture.

---

Target Audience

Individuals who will benefit from this course include new and experienced managers, supervisors, team leaders, and individuals who want to enhance connection, collaboration, and innovation on their teams.

---

Course Objectives

• Describe the relationship between psychological safety and accountability.
• Define and diagnose the four stages of psychological safety.
• Identify actions you can take to create space for you and your team to be in the Learning Zone.
• Brainstorm team norms that promote psychological safety.
• List critical coaching behaviors that foster trust, growth, and development.
• Distinguish between functional and dysfunctional conflict.
• Analyze scenarios through a lens of psychological safety.

---

Course Outline

Building the Foundation

• Activity: Large-Group Spectrogram
• Google’s Project Aristotle
• Psychological Safety and Performance
• The Four Stages of Psychological Safety

Setting the Stage

• Making Space for the Learning Zone
• Making Implicit Agreements Explicit
• (Re)defining Team Norms and Guiding Principles
• Templates: Team Charter and Digital Communication Norms
• Activity: Setting Team Norms

Inviting Participation

• Adopting a Coaching Mindset
• Asking Powerful Questions
• Activity: Closed Versus Open Questions
• Designing Experiences for Inclusion
• Reaching Decisions with Your Team

Responding Productively

• Conflict Basics
• Functional Versus Dysfunctional Conflict
• Actions to Create a Productive Team Culture
• Activity: Psychological Safety Scenarios
• Activity: Force-Field Analysis

Course Summary and Next Steps

MDV2011c Course Code