Psychological Safety

We collaborate with leaders and teams to improve communication and collaboration within teams, and to ensure that high standards for excellence are paired with a supportive work environment. Evidence is clear on the benefits of a strong psychological safety climate in teams; a climate which we can support you to grow.

Psychological safety has been defined by Edmondson as a shared belief among team members, based on mutual respect and trust, that a team is safe to take risks1. A psychologically safe work climate is characterised by a work place in which people feel comfortable to voice their differences. Team members have a shared sense of confidence that their colleagues will not reject them for speaking up with ideas or concerns, and one of the key drivers of psychological safety is the behaviour of leaders. In addition to team psychological safety, research has also focused on individual perceptions of psychological safety, whereby an employee is comfortable to show their true-self without any fear of negative consequences to their career or self-image. Given the need for employees to collaborate, share information and exchange ideas with their colleagues, psychological safety is vital to an organisation’s success. For example, in a study by Google's People Analytics Unit, psychological safety was found to be the number one characteristic of successful high-performing teams.

Flexible work

This research project tackles the timely questions: What is flexibility at work? Can every employee have some degree of flexibility in their work? We believe workplace flexiblity is a critical part of organisational resilience, as demonstrated by our research on the NZ's COVID-19 lockdown, and aim to embedded it as a necessity of contemporary workplaces rather than a response to crises. We are currently seeking workplace partners who are keen to have a conversation on what type, how and when flexibility have worked for their organisations.