Psychologically safe communication and collaboration

Why this matters

Effective communication involves the clear, timely and transparent exchange of information that supports employees' success at work. Respectful and inclusive collaboration engages every team member in ongoing conversations related to their work.

 Here are some benefits of effective communication and collaboration in the workplace:

• Employees know what they need to do
• Tasks are executed correctly
• There’s clarity about priorities
• Miscommunication and errors are reduced
• Employee potential is optimized
• Challenges are identified and resolved earlier

Suggested actions and resources by statement

1. I know how and when to adapt my communication style to facilitate effective interaction with diverse employee personalities, emotional states, or learning styles.
   • Emotional intelligence for leaders. Use the activities provided to improve emotional intelligence related to leading, managing or supporting employees.
   • Communicating with emotional employees. These strategies can help you have supportive conversations with employees and avoid triggering negative reactions.
   • Implicit bias. Learn to identify and understand implicit bias, microaggressions and intersectionality. Whether the bias results in poor morale or discrimination, identifying it is the first step to eliminating it.
   • Monitor your communication style. Understanding why you might use assertive, aggressive, passive and passive-aggressive communication styles can help you recognize your underlying emotions. This is particularly important for having difficult conversations.
   • Respond to those who are emotionally distressed. Our own emotions, including frustration, guilt or pity, can impact our ability to respond to someone in distress. Learn to recognize and manage your reactions.
2. I ensure that all employees who report to me have clarity in terms of job expectations and task priorities.
   • Evidence-based actions for clear leadership and expectations. These actions and responses can be implemented with a minimal investment of resources or cost to the organization.
   • Task improvement process | PDF. A psychologically safe process that helps you support employees commit to a reasonable plan to improve their performance and productivity on specific tasks.
   • Team activity – Good enough vs. perfection. This team-building activity can help develop shared and reasonable expectations for quality of work.
3. I have one-to-one meetings with each team member to discuss issues that affect their work, including how their work links to organizational goals and objectives.
   • Use this template 1:1 (One on One) Discussion Points | PDF to help support an effective discussion.
   • Ask debriefing questions at the end of a project to discover lessons learned and provide insight into what went well.
4. I ensure employees are kept up to date when there are proposed or actual changes in processes, policies or priorities that could impact their work.
   • Ask the question, “How might this impact employees?” during all planning discussions so that you’re ready to share with your team.
   • Helping employees to manage change. Any organizational change may have an unsettling impact on employees. You can help through thoughtful planning, effective communication, and engaging employees in exploring how changes can be handled in a psychologically safe way.
   • Coping with change. Share this resource with your employees so they can explore ways to navigate change that help them accept and adapt to changes that are outside your control.
5. Even when I’m not authorized to share information, I communicate as appropriate with employees to address any unnecessary fears or concerns.
   • Seek clarity about the information you can share and when you’ll be able to share the information you’re asked to keep confidential.
   • Discuss any concerns being expressed by your employees with your superiors and ask for guidance in managing their fears.
   • Building trust for leaders. Learn how to show your employees you’re trustworthy by exploring these core competencies and behaviours.
   • Managing co-worker reactions to accommodation. Introduces strategies to deal with employee fears, concerns or resentments about a co-worker's accommodation, which you have to keep confidential. 
6. I conduct check-ins to help each employee maximize their capabilities and potential on the job.
   • Developing employee plans for leaders. Step-by-step guidelines to work with an employee in developing their own strategies for success.
   • Evidence-based actions for growth and development. These actions and responses can be implemented with a minimal investment of resources or cost to the organization.
   • Consider using the Entry and Stay interview questions in Psychologically safe orientation strategies as part of your check-in.
   • Conversation starters for psychological health and safety. Has questions to ask individuals or teams to better understand their experiences at work.
7. I seek feedback from employees about what might be currently challenging or frustrating them at work.
   • Elicit feedback.  Learn how to seek employee feedback in a productive and psychologically safe way.
   • Use appreciative inquiry. This communication technique focuses on what could be done differently, without spending time on assigning blame. It reinforces positive communications, helps to create a shared vision for the path forward, and promotes learning and innovation.
   • 1:1 (One on One) Discussion Points | PDF. Use this template to help support an effective discussion.
   • Interpret negative feedback accurately. Most of us find it difficult to receive negative feedback. We may feel criticized, judged or blamed. Learn how to hear feedback as information about what we can do differently, rather than who we are as a person.
8. I seek input about each employee’s professional development goals.
   • Evidence-based actions for growth and development. These actions and responses can be implemented with a minimal investment of resources or cost to the organization.
   • Psychologically safe orientation strategies. Has some excellent questions and strategies for new employees that can also be used any time you want to learn more about an employee’s goals and aspirations.
9. I provide positive, constructive feedback to employees with the intent of helping them grow and develop.
   • Constructive criticism. Learning to provide constructive criticism can help you resolve issues without conflict or misunderstanding.
   • Attribution error. Whether we’re talking about our own behaviours or someone else’s, we’re likely to make assumptions about why they occurred. We often attribute behaviours to something either external or internal to the person.
   • Feedback preferences form | PDF. Use this form to help your employees describe how they best can hear and use feedback to improve their performance.
   • Provide negative feedback constructively. Shares strategies that can help you provide negative feedback in a respectful, helpful and effective way.
10. I actively encourage employees to suggest ideas for new workplace experiences that they may value or benefit from (e.g., committee work, mentoring, job shadowing).
    • Evidence-based actions for growth and development. These actions and responses can be implemented with a minimal investment of resources or cost to the organization.
    • Elicit feedback. Learn how to seek employee feedback in a productive and psychologically safe way.
11. I provide employees with opportunities (formal or informal) to develop their interpersonal skills at work.
    • Find and interesting blog or article in interpersonal skills and have a discussion with your employees about why you think it’s valuable. Ask them how they would apply the interpersonal skill at work.
    • Emotional intelligence for employees. Free activities to increase your ability to manage your reactions and control how you impact others. Building your emotional intelligence can help reduce stress.
    • Protect your team from psychological injury. Has workshops and team activities that can help build your team’s coping strategies. These skills will serve employees well in both their personal and professional lives.
    • Team building activities. These team-building activities can help improve team effectiveness. Leaders and team members can learn how to resolve issues and support each other.
12. I discuss with my team how we can all work better together.
    • Psychologically safe team assessment. This resource helps to assess how employees experience being a member of your team.
    • Strengthening relationships. These approaches can lead to a win-win situation in which both parties feel more respected and valued. They can also help you more effectively deal with challenges when your relationship foundation is strong.
    • Team agreement process. Use this in collaboration with adult team members to develop their own agreement about how they will interact at work. 
    • Leveraging team wisdom workshop. Help your team members connect with each other practically and effectively, work together to address obstacles and learn from each other.
    • Psychologically safe interactions workshop. These free workshop materials help show how behaviours might be interpreted as bullying, regardless of intent. Included is a slide presentation, facilitator guide and participant handout.
    • Hybrid teams. In a hybrid team, some employees work on-site and some work remotely. Read more to learn how to balance and effectively support the success of both sets of employees.
    • Team building activities. These team-building activities can help improve team effectiveness. Leaders and team members can learn how to resolve issues and support each other.
    • On the agenda workshop series. On the agenda is a series of free workshop materials and facilitator tools to address psychosocial factors. Create an action plan with your team to improve psychological health and safety.
13. I verbalize my appreciation to employees for their individual tasks and efforts at work.
    • Evidence-based actions for recognition and reward. These actions and responses can be implemented with a minimal investment of resources or cost to the organization.
    • Recognition strategies for leaders. Learn how to express respect and appreciation to your employees.
    • Recognition preferences form | PDF.Use this form to help your employees describe how they like to receive recognition.
14. I recognize the successes and achievements of my team.
    • Incorporate team recognition into regular meetings even if it’s just for a few minutes.
    • Recognition strategies for leaders. Learn how to express respect and appreciation to your employees.
    • Recognition preferences form | PDF. Use this form to help your employees describe how they like to receive recognition.
    • Connect with your team. In a busy work environment, you may find it challenging to connect with your team in a meaningful way. Using these ideas and activities, it takes just minutes a day to make a positive connection.
15. I demonstrate genuine appreciation to individual employees for the specific work they do.
    • For each employee, make a commitment to commenting in a positive way on at least one thing they have done, every week.
    • Strengthening relationships. Learn to build, maintain and deepen any relationship for a stronger connection. These approaches can lead to a win-win situation in which both parties feel more respected and valued. They can also help you more effectively deal with challenges when your relationship foundation is strong.
    • Recognition strategies for leaders. Learn how to express respect and appreciation to your employees.

Take the Psychologically safe leader assessment

Assessment

Share this webpage with anyone who is a leader that’s focused on improving the way they communicate and collaborate with their team.