The role of Psychological Safety in Enabling Successful Change
Written by Naomi Lockwood
Naomi is a Learning and Organisational Development practitioner. She works with managers, senior leaders and teams to create climates, cultures and organisations they are proud to work in. Learn more about Naomi here.
Cultivating Strategic Team Development During Transition
“Change is much more than logistical planning. You need to understand the human dynamics involved for individuals and teams.”
I have consistently emphasised this message to all the public and private sector leaders I've worked with regarding effective organisational change management.
Successful change requires balancing the hard side—the consideration of structures, environments, and processes—and the soft side—the consideration of people, teams, and cultures.
This is where psychological safety comes in.
What is Psychological Safety?
Psychological safety refers to a shared belief within a team that it is safe to take interpersonal risks and be vulnerable without fear of negative consequences. Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson found in her research, that psychological safety is the base upon which successful teams are built (Edmondson, 1999). It creates an environment – with a strong foundation of trust and respect - where team members feel comfortable to speak up, share ideas and take risks, all of which are essential for innovation, collaboration, and adaptability – and of course, change!
In psychologically safe teams, team members can show up as they are, express different opinions, ask questions, and admit when they don't know all the answers (Edmondson, 1999).
When I work with leaders, I support them to create environments where these elements are present. It is so important to create the conditions where these honest contributions can happen. This way, when colleagues face the uncertainty that so often comes with change, they are equipped and feel supported, increasing the likelihood of successful change initiatives.
Why is Psychological Safety Important During Change?
During times of change, psychological safety becomes even more critical.
Organisational Change without Psychological Safety
During these times, it can be so easy to focus on the implementation of the strategy – and delivering the change itself – and forget to focus on the natural human response to the change.
“Change is an event, but a transition is the process that you go through in response to the change” - William Bridges (1979), "Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes
William Bridges differentiates between change and transition – stating that change is external and transition is internal. In fact, change can fail when we only pay attention to the external aspects and forget the human dimension.
When this balance is not struck, people can be left in the wilderness—resisting letting go of how things are, confused with what is to come, and less engaged and productive as change starts to happen.
On the other hand, teams have a different experience when psychological safety is present during the change process.
In a global healthcare organisation on the precipice of some major structural changes, the senior leadership knew the importance of attending to transition. They invested in developing leaders to understand Bridges’ philosophy, and we concentrated on how to focus on both the ‘change’ itself and on the ‘transition’. This prepared leaders with the essential knowledge and tools.
The result? An organisation that embraced change successfully!
Organisational Change with Psychological Safety
How do we cultivate psychological safety?
1. Put it out on the table:
Too often, those leading change go into ‘Tell’ mode and forget to add space for team members to share their thoughts and feelings about the change. The risk is that colleagues leave the meeting with questions or concerns that can lead to frustration and even resistance. To counteract this and cultivate psychological safety, it is helpful to:
create opportunities for team members to share their thoughts, questions, concerns and ideas
really listen to what people have to say by asking great questions, being genuinely curious and showing deep respect for one another.
2. Provide support:
It is well-documented that those leading change can be so far ahead in their thinking that they can miss the fact that not everyone is in the same place as them.
If we want people to move to acceptance and even excitement, we need to bring them on the journey with us. Knowing that people respond differently to change and move through it at different rates is a core competence when leading change. Supporting them through their transition is crucial.
“Offering guidance, resources, and emotional support to team members, in as much of an individualised way as possible as they navigate change, is a core enabler of successful change.”
I work with leaders to help them co-create supportive strategies with the team. This results in a sense of shared ownership in solutions, which leads to buy-in and is a great resource for the team members.
Some years ago, I helped a pharmaceutical company to create a strategy that repositioned the organisation both externally and internally. Fundamentally, this change was about a new corporate identity and ways of working, which meant in essence a new culture.
The company had been very successful up to this point and was well-loved by colleagues. Some colleagues had concerns about losing what was great about the organisation that they held so dearly.
So, I flipped this on its head and rather than ask people what was wrong with the change, we invited people to share stories about what made them proud to work at this company. This process, in tandem with a clear message about the new identity and excitement for the future vision was reassuring for individuals.
“ I worked in partnership with the new leader and the senior leadership team to share the compelling vision for the future; to invite their teams to celebrate the things that made them proud to be part of this incredible organisation; and then to listen to their ideas about how to build on what was great, to create an even better future, together.”
This way, people felt reassured that all the elements that made the organisation so special were on the table and respected. On top of that, those that were enablers of the future, were carried forward.
3. Promote a learning environment:
At the heart of change is doing things differently. Embracing a growth mindset within the team, where challenges and unknown territory are seen as opportunities for learning and development, is incredibly powerful.
In my work with organisations going through change, exploring the power of genuine learning and ‘not knowing’ has been an important aspect of the journey. The most successful leaders are comfortable with this, and it leaves them open to listening, enquiring and showing curiosity.
“The importance of having a growth mindset during times of change and transition is that it removes the necessity to know the right answer all the time”.
Increasingly, change is complex, or even if the change is relatively straightforward in and of itself, the context is complex – we haven’t quite done this thing, in this way, at this time. And so, as leaders, if we try to lead change, by role modelling that we know the right answer all the time we risk two outcomes. At best we will miss out on some potential great ideas from within our organisation. At worst, we appear out of touch.
Therefore, if we value a ‘fixed mindset’ and put an emphasis on having the ‘right answer, we close our eyes and ears to possibility. We stop listening, enquiring and being curious.
In my opinion, the most successful leaders:
have a sense of direction — yes,
have a compelling vision — yes,
have all the answers — no! They don’t!
What can we do as leaders who are leading change? We can admit, even to ourselves, that we “don’t know that—yet,” and thus allow ourselves to learn from others. We can lean into learning, in service of knowing more, seeing things in new ways, and thinking differently. In turn, we will signal the power of having a growth mindset to those we lead as well.
In our Enabling Academy, we have lessons covering Reactions to Change and Leading People Through Change that will teach you how to do this practically. You can check it out here and contact us should you wish to enrol.
Psychological Safety During Change: Key Takeaways
“Leading people through change can feel hard enough; starting with a strong foundation of psychological safety makes it so much easier.”
By encouraging a culture of trust, openness, and support, leaders are empowering their teams to navigate transitions with confidence and resilience. Ultimately, it is through the cultivation of psychological safety that teams can thrive in the face of uncertainty and emerge stronger to embrace the new beginning.
References and further reading:
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Bridges, W & Bridges S (2017) Managing Transitions (25th anniversary edition): Making the Most of Change