Psychological Safety at Work sounds a GREAT idea!  BUT! Some Questions for Amy Edmondson + others...  

Psychological Safety at Work is a concept developed by Amy Edmondson Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School. Many of the practices that she says will support the development of a sense of Psychological Safety at work are reflected in mediation skills practices, which is not surprising given that some of the ways Professor Edmondson characterises the concept is 'permission for candour', accepting mistakes or even failure in teams, acknowledging our own fallibility, framing work as a learning problem rather than an execution problem. All of these characterisations resemble the purpose of mediation as a process that supports creativity in response to conflict, seeing it as an opportunity for learning, change and growth.   

BUT, in this video and podcast, Alan shares some questions about the 'reality' of being able to create or support psychological safety at work. In much that is said about this concept there remains little about the actual practices and behaviours that leaders and teams and organisations use to introduce it. This risks the possibility that it remains a 'great idea' but does not prove practical to implement without clarity about what these behaviours need to be and why.   

There also seems to be a lot of emphasis on 'leaders creating' psychological safety but little about how others also need to be involved in this, and recognition of policies that limit the wider possibilities across an organisation for psychological safety to become part of its culture.   

Here is the link to the video on youtube from which this podcast is taken: https://youtu.be/FkWNh8i6oZQ

Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments section.   

Alan Sharland has been a Mediator and Conflict Coach for over 27 years working in a wide range of dispute situations including neighbour disputes, workplace disputes, complaints (NHS, Special Educational Needs, University Student), group disputes and others. He was Director of a community mediation service in West London for 11 years and now runs CAOS Conflict Management. https://www.caos-conflict-management.co.uk

 Connect with Alan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alansharland 

Train in the CAOS Model of Mediation: https://www.caos-conflict-management.co.uk/mediation-training-course.html 

Train in the CAOS Model of Conflict Coaching: https://www.caos-conflict-management.co.uk/conflict-coaching-training.html 

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Books and ebooks:  

How to Resolve Bullying in the Workplace: Stepping Out of the Circle of Blame to Create an Effective Outcome for All https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Resolve-Bullying-Workplace-Effective/dp/1511941316 

A Guide To Effective Communication for Conflict Resolution - How Mindful Communication Supports Growth Through Conflict. Purchase the book at this link on amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1790335221 

CREDITS 

Outro Music: All Colours Pt 6 by Bob Holroyd, from album Hollowman: https://music.apple.com/us/album/hollowman/677559200