Value in a Moment
It’s common practice in the engineering industry to kick-off large meetings with a Values Moment. This is the first 1 – 2 mins after everybody jumps into a meeting, and it’s usually spent sharing a story around a recent learning, or a safety related incident. It’s a way of extending your environment into one that adds value and creates connection for the people you work with.
The stories shared during these moments can range from driving related, through to talking about communication preferences. More often than you can shake a stick at, I find that people default to talking about something driving related, and if these moments are not carefully curated they will run into more than just a couple of minutes. So to reign these in, and keep them to time, I use the PASS Principle; Personable Actionable Simple Succinct (PASS) Principle.
You can use these for sustainability moments too, as a way to learn from each other or about sustainability, or in a different way to share some useful domain knowledge.
On a few occasions now, I’ve shared a Values Moment around the concept of Psychological Safety. Psychological safety in teams is where people feel safe to be themselves without having to fear negative consequences, such as humiliation, punishment or rejection. It’s a term that Amy Edmondson coined, and she tells the story of why teams that have Psychological Safety perform better.
I’ve used this topic as a values moment a few times; the first time I used it in as established ‘team’ of people with really poor behaviors, which had no effect whatsoever, but on two other occasions, in which I was onboarding a new contractor, and starting with a new client it created an environment where people felt comfortable asking the ‘stupid questions’.
Teams that foster psychological safety tend to perform better for several reasons. Here are 3 reasons why:
1. They are more creative and innovative
When people feel safe within a team they are more likely to ask questions, and share unconventional ideas and solutions. When this happens, team members are more likely to spend more time sharing knowledge and exploring ideas, which can lead to better problem solving and outcomes
2. The team is more adaptive and resilient to change
In psychologically safe teams, because members are less afraid of making mistakes or failing this leads to a more resilient and adaptive team, because failures are instead viewed as opportunities for learning and growth
3. More stability and better performance
Psychological safety also contributes to the well-being of team members by reducing stress and anxiety associated with their work. This can lead to improved mental health and overall job satisfaction. And happier team members who feel psychologically safe in their teams are more likely to stay with their team or organization, reducing turnover and increasing overall team stability as knowledge is retained within the team.
In summary, psychologically safe teams perform better because they create an environment where team members can fully contribute, collaborate, and innovate without the fear of negative repercussions. This leads to improved communication, decision-making, engagement, and overall team effectiveness. I’d encourage you to check out Amy’s Ted Talk here:
