At the moment we are in the throes of a worldwide upheaval in the workplace: some are now working remotely, some are still in the office, and some are combining both models of work. Against the backdrop of these constant shifts in the workplace, it is easy to see that this trend toward change has become the hallmark of the world in 2022.
The world will continue to change and make adjustments to the way we are used to working. That’s why Amy S. Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, offers some advice on how to get used to the ever-changing work model and create comfort working in a team.
What is psychological safety in an organization?
So how do you ensure reliability and security within a company so that you can easily adapt to new work challenges? According to the Asana Summit, creating a sense of security within an organization ensures growth and prosperity in the company.
What is psychological safety in a company? It is a sense of security in figuring out work moments and issues, without fear of personal conflict. Employees should have no worries and no fear of coming forward with questions or mistakes to management. In other words, there should be no fear of being fired for slipping up at work.
Being heard and not judged at the same time is now more important than ever. Here are three tips on how to create such an atmosphere of trustworthiness and safety in your company, according to Asana experts.
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Don’t raise your expectations
We used to think that if we do our job well, the result will also be good, and this rule really works. But there are still exceptions to the rules, in which this does not work. So even at this stage of the project, talk about all the details with your management team, inform them about the progress of tasks. After all, even if you hone your work to perfection, you may not get the overall desired result.
On the part of managers, it is important to take any information solely as the facts. Everything your employees come to you with should be nothing more than information upon which you can make decisions. As a leader, show that feedback is important to you and that it is even welcome. By showing objectivity in resolving conflicts or issues, you show professionalism and make your colleagues feel good about you.
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Invite to a dialogue
For example, let’s say you’ve already made your employees feel welcome and now you have to have a constructive dialogue with them, but where do you start? To have a productive conversation, you need to create a safe and supportive atmosphere. You can do this simply by asking specific questions. Examples of such questions are:
- What do you think about this?
- What alternatives might we also consider?
- What do other colleagues think about this?
- What prompted you to ask this question?
A good question should not only make the person you are talking to feel comfortable but also help them get to the point together. Such questions help you dive deeper into the topic, as well as show your interest in the conversation, which, on a psychological level, will greatly make you seem favorable to the person you’re interacting with.
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Answer carefully.
As a rule, the reaction to unpleasant information in most cases is negative: emotions take over and this is not at all what is necessary for a productive conversation. Learn to react calmly, no matter how bad the news is, in order to be able to make the person feel comfortable and trustworthy. Understand that if you react negatively, the person is unlikely to want to come back to you with their problem or question.
Learn to respond as if you were observing the situation from the sidelines, for example: “Thank you for sharing this information, how can I help you?” By giving your employees comfort in dealing with unpleasant news, you can make sure that you are notified if something goes wrong. That’s better than having people afraid to come to you with bad results and the company losing their money in the meantime, isn’t it?
Scale Psychological Safety
Your company’s safety starts with your team, so start building trust at the interview stage. Three seemingly simple steps can be difficult to implement and start putting into practice right away. So use the Asana planning tool to start strengthening relationships with your colleagues in stages.
The security of your cloud is just as important as the security atmosphere within the company. If you haven’t already secured your organization from a technical standpoint, then we recommend studying this material or seeking help from Cloudfresh experts. The Cloudfresh team is a unique center of expertise for Google Cloud, Zendesk, and Asana. For these products, we can provide you with the following services:
- Customization;
- Development;
- Integration;
- Training;
- License;
- Support.
Our specialists will help you optimize your IT infrastructure, develop integrations for better system interoperability, and help create completely new structures and processes for your teams, while our support center will provide you with the best customer experience!
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