As facilitators, we are generally focused on creating processes and contexts where psychological safety can grow and be fostered. This is unsurprising, as there is little doubt left that psychologist Carl Rogers initially branded the term in the 1950s, and it has later risen to international recognition through Amy Edmondson’s extensive research in the past decade, which is an integral part of successful group experiences. Hence, there are continuous conversations about how facilitation tools, methods, frameworks, approaches, and techniques can contribute to building this shared perception in a group.
However, we have a gigantic blind spot in discussion: our impact. Here are five dimensions that any facilitator and leader should consider when
working with groups and teams.
Facilitators don’t create psychological safety.
Facilitators tend to make their lives difficult through responsibility overreach. One topic we frequently misperceive is the idea that we are creating psychological safety. We are not. As long as we work with them, we are part of a group. With psychological safety being a group concept, everyone is responsible for creating and maintaining psychological safety.
Through our mandate, we have a unique role: to guide and lead the group toward ways to foster this feeling. This includes being a role model for sharing vulnerability and stepping out of one's comfort zone.
We might be a threat to psychological safety.
Imagine you sit there with your closest friends, having a conversation. Suddenly, a stranger sat down to join the discussion, taking a pivotal role, only briefly mentioning that he was invited by someone who usually is part of the core group but couldn’t make it tonight. How do you think that would impact the conversation? Something would happen with the group.
The same often happens in facilitation settings. We are often strangers who come in to work with a group or a team. Even if we know them, we are not part of their everyday work-life; thus, we have a different connection and are not considered a core member. We are the element that might cause psychological safety to crack.
It is important to remember that we have a somewhat unique role in the whole process, and, more often than not, we might be a reason why psychological safety levels drop or crumble.
Rules create a false sense of safety.
Many facilitators work with ground rules. And often, one of the reasons is to provide a safe frame and anchor. However, the actual safety of a group can be observed when there are no rules but emerging processes when the team establishes its norms through collaboration rather than a priori in a set of housekeeping rules. One could even go as far as to say that if a facilitator asks for ground rules, they doubt the collaboration would work without them; hence, psychological safety is low.
Remember the signal effect of rules and consider starting without them. There is always the option to establish them later. It might be worth signaling that we believe in the existence of psychological safety in the group rather than creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by pre-empting friction.
It is an individually perceived group phenomenon.
The discourse around psychological safety has one weak spot. It portrays the concept as relatively static. However, it is highly dynamic. Everyone in the room perceives it differently. We all need different things to feel safe, so its building is complex. Psychological safety is a shared feeling; however, it is rooted in different things.
As facilitators, we must be observant and considerate of what people need to feel safe. Some might need attention, while others want to be left alone. Our processes must cater to all of them somehow, though not simultaneously. We acknowledge people's differences as long as we can keep a sound overall balance.
What makes us feel safe?
The most significant blind spot we have, however, is that we are so preoccupied with the group’s psychological safety that we forget what makes us feel safe, and that is equally important for the overall existence of psychological safety. If we don’t feel safe, chances are that they won’t, not least because of the group phenomenon of social contagion, where emotions are transferred throughout the group.
That’s why it is essential that we find what makes us lower our shoulders, enjoy our experience, and connect with the context, audience, and process. Once we are in the flow, their shoulders will lower, and we have achieved the first step of psychological safety in practice. So ask yourself: What do I need to feel safe?
Psychological safety is a key concept in working with groups. As facilitators, instead of being concerned with building it, we have to start with reflections on obstacles and how we influence whether the group feels safe or not.