Here we are, a month into the new year! New opportunities, new challenges, and a new invitation to create the kind of conditions that bring the very best out of you (and the people you work with) this year. We get asked a lot about how people can create more psychological safety for themselves and for others. We thought it might be fun to offer you 23 ideas for some little actions you could take that would add up to powerful growth in the psychological safety of your team.
Please – experiment with some of these and let us know what you notice!
- Write a real (like on paper!) thank you note to someone that indirectly helped you
- Make a list of five things you and your boss have in common
- Ask a co-worker (or your boss!) what they want to learn this year
- Tell a co-worker what you think they do really well
- Start a blame jar – put a quarter in it every time you catch yourself blaming
- Grab coffee or lunch with someone you don’t know well
- Make a list of five mistakes you might make this year
- Send a note of encouragement to someone that’s struggling
- Ask “What do you think?” at least once a day
- Thank someone for taking a risk that created opportunity for learning or growth
- Make someone laugh
- Ask someone, “What’s a way I could be helpful to you that I might not know about?”
- Help someone reach a goal, even if it has no direct benefit to you
- Tell someone a story about a time you experienced failure (and do it without blaming)
- Ask a new person for feedback (and say thank you!)
- Get curious about how people might experience feeling excluded that you may not have noticed before – see if you can find three
- Say no to something you can’t or shouldn’t do, even when it feels risky
- Apologize (sincerely and completely) when you need to
- Find someone that disagrees with you about something important to you and ask them to help you understand their point of view
- Create some silliness
- Ask someone to tell you a story about themselves
- Ask you teammates what they’re reading
- Incorporate a two-minute check-in process at the beginning of every meeting
