Title: Harnessing Psychological Safety and Perspective Taking for Competitive Edge
Embracing psychological safety and perspective-taking in the workplace can significantly boost organizational performance, as suggested by a study from MIT Sloan. This research emphasized the effectiveness of training programs focused on these skills, as demonstrated by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken's success, which saw a 25% increase in revenues exceeding yearly targets in a strategic market segment.
The research offers four guiding principles to design an impactful training program:
- Prioritize both individual and team development, acknowledging that psychological safety and perspective-taking are not exclusive to the individual but are essential team skills.
- Expand leadership responsibility for creating a psychologically safe environment by training them on how to foster this culture and holding them accountable.
- Ensure the training aligns with strategic goals to make it meaningful and relevant to employees.
- Showcase short-term benefits to encourage employee engagement, such as improved communication, collaboration, and innovation.
Tying the training to a specific business outcome makes senior leaders, busy managers, and employees more receptive. Prescient pre-work, like spending time brainstorming challenges, prioritizing issues, and engaging in discussion rather than hearing presentations, further enhances training engagement.
By integrating psychological safety and perspective-taking skills with real-world applications, organizations can promote open communication and collaboration. This fosters a culture that enhances efficiency, levels up innovation, and boosts financial performance. Loosely based on the MIT Sloan research, here are three tips for making psychological safety training impactful at your organization or team:
- Connect training to a tangible business outcome: Mapping psychological safety training to a specific business challenge or need, such as gaining market share or revenue, increases leaders' involvement and commitment.
- Conduct pre-work to brainstorm and prioritize issues: Pre-work helps trainees understand their challenges, come better prepared for discussions, and fosters a productive training experience.
- Establish a clear action plan: A well-defined action plan or goal setting process after training encourages behavioral change, ensuring the training has a lasting impact on the team.
Psychological safety and perspective-taking cooperation is a vital skill for organizations seeking a sustainable competitive advantage. By combining these trainable abilities with real-world problem-solving, organizations can create a culture of open communication and collaboration, resulting in enhanced efficiency, innovation, and financial prosperity.
- Promoting inclusion and diversity in the workplace through psychological safety and perspective-taking training can contribute significantly to safety at work, as advocated by DEI initiatives.
- Incorporating 'allyship' into leadership training can foster an inclusive environment, where leaders become advocates for underrepresented groups and actively work towards safety and equality.
- To ensure the effectiveness of psychological safety and perspective-taking training, leaders should demonstrate 'inclusive leadership' by modeling these behaviors and holding team members accountable for upholding them.
- Creating a psychologically safe workspace that values diversity and inclusion can also lead to improved employee satisfaction, reduced turnover, and higher overall job performance.
- Embracing 'allyship' in the workplace can help break down barriers, prevent discrimination, and ultimately contribute to a safer and more productive working environment for all employees.
