Psychological Safety in Practice

Next class:
Training Centre II
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Class description

Most of us have sat in a meeting where everyone nodded and nobody said what they thought. The idea that would have saved the project stayed in someone's head. Harvard professor Amy Edmondson calls the missing ingredient psychological safety: the shared belief that it's safe to speak up, ask, disagree and get things wrong.

In this class you practise it. You'll feel what judgement does to a group, and what changes when it disappears. Then you'll learn the small, everyday moves that help people open up, and take them back to your own team.

What you'll work on

  • Week 1: What silence costs. The research in ten minutes, then exercises that let you feel the difference between a room with judgement and one without.
  • Week 2: Yes, and at work. Building on ideas instead of correcting them, and catching your own "yes, but" reflex.
  • Week 3: Embracing failure. Making mistakes on purpose in a safe room, recovering out loud, and seeing how a leader's reaction to an error shapes the whole team.
  • Week 4: Making each other look good. Giving others the spotlight, and turning the month into one agreement you take back to your team.

    • Each week ends with one small thing to try at work before the next session.

    You'll leave with

  • A clear sense of what makes people hold back, and how to spot it early
  • Practical ways to open up a quiet meeting
  • One team agreement to bring back to work
  • A certificate for your 4-week training

    • Who it's for

    Team leads, project managers and anyone who has watched a good meeting go quiet.

    Teachers

    Gordon Torbet

    Gordon is one of the few performers and trainers at ICC with a professional acting background. But he was happy to give up the scripts and rehearsals more than 15 years ago for the joy of improvising. Now he is one of Denmark's most experienced improvisers and teachers. Also he's one of the most hilarious character improvisers we have at the ICC. Gordon loves the community, and teaching people the skills of improv.